Artorias impaled a demon in front of him, blasting a gaping hole on it's chest. Two more fiends charged at him, razor sharp claws brandished. Seeing the incoming attack, The Wolf Knight tore his blade from the fallen demon and commenced a spinning slash to the creatures' legs, severing them.

They tried to get up, only to be impaled by Rainbow Dash's uchigatana and Captain Shatterstorm's wing blades.

After both the Equestrians and Abyss forces collided, Artorias and his comrades cut their way through enemy lines and into the bowels of Tartarus. So far, they suffered no loss of life.

""Well done, but do not let your guard down," Artorias praised. Rainbow smiled softly, so did Shatterstorm.

"You okay there Flutters?" Applejack asked.

"Mhhmmm!" the timid pegasus mare squeaked.

The fact that the Element Bearers were sitting on Sif's back brought some semblance of relief to Artorias, knowing that her sword would be ready to defend them at all times. Captain Shatterstorm and his soldiers provided additional protection, while also bolstered by the spirits of Ciaran and Gough who warded off The Abyss' crushing darkness from the group.

They journeyed deeper into the dark void, keeping their senses as alert as possible of any threat lurking in the Abyss.

Until suddenly, his instinct told him to stop. Artorias held his hand up, signaling the group to halt. Soon, it hit them.

They were being watched.

True to his instincts, hundreds of red eyes lit up from the surrounding darkness.

Demons...hundreds of Abyss corrupted demons, formerly jailers to the hellish prison of Tartarus, stepped out from the shadows and advanced slowly to the boxed party. Not that demons were creatures of light to begin with, however they used to have reason and conscience of their own. Roles, which they held to their very last breath. But all that remained were husks of their former selves.

"Oh this is definitely not good," Shatterstorm said, inching backward but flaring his bladed wings.

Until they came to an abrupt stop.

"Why?" asked Sergeant Rose Breeze, a member of the captain's retinue, her horn glowing with a bright red aura.

"I dare to bet my last bit of soul something worse is on it's way. Get ready," Artorias said through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, another figure stepped out from the shadows. A figure the group knew very well.

"Sombra!" the Wolf Knight growled.

A small smile curled on the corners of Sombra's darkened lips. With the Abyss' black slime dripping from his mouth and multiple squinting red eyes, the former emperor looked even more grotesque than ever.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, weakling." The fallen king let out a dark chuckle.

"And I will not repeat that mistake."

"Your business lies not with me Abysswalker. My queen is waiting for you."

A second later, the ground beneath Artorias' feet crumbled and he fell deeper into the Abyss.

"ARTORIAS!" Rainbow screamed as the knight plummeted down to the obscuring darkness. Tears formed on the corners of her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. Horror began to crept up for the rest of the group as well.

"Do not worry child, I can still feel his presence," said Hawkeye Gough.

"Your bond is your weakness for it is why you shall fall. My demons shall feast upon your flesh and those who refuse to kneel before me!"

"My d3M0nS sH4Ll Fe43sT uP0N yOuR Fl3sh 4nD Th0s3 wH0 r3fyUs3 T0 Kn33l b4 m3!" Pinkie mocked, imitating a chicken flapping it's wings.

"You done yet blabbermouth?" Shatterstorm mocked as well. "I thought you wanted to be a king, not a court jester!"

His soldiers boomed with laughter, showing no fear instead of the overwhelming odds. Sif joined them too with a loud growl, ready to slash through the horde of demons.

Twilight encased her friends in a magic sphere and levitated them to the ground. A stable ground would be much preferable compared to the back of a great grey wolf who enjoyed leaping and pivoting during combat.

"I've had enough of you."

With that, the horde poured down on the group.

Sif leapt forward and cleaved the majority of demons in the front lines with her greatsword.

Seeing an opening, Shatterstorm flicked his wings and three razor sharp knives streaked towards the fallen, now corrupted, unicorn king.

A sudden burst of dark aura deflected all the knives before they even managed to get in range. However, this was enough to distract Sombra for a split second and so did the demons.

"We kill him, we kill them."

Artorias wandered aimlessly in the dark caverns, trying to find his way up to his friends. The knight continued hugging the walls as they were his best chance of not straying off or worse, falling to his death into the chasms below. He prayed silently, wishing safety for his friends above as well as guidance from the everlasting darkness.

The ball of light hovering above his head provided some illumination to his surroundings, but his vision was very limited.

Shortly, the ground beneath his feet became more even and he came upon a flooded open area with stalagmites protruding from them.

Artorias' battle-hardened instincts told him to draw his blade as he stepped into the waters, and seconds later he heard rapid heavy footsteps approaching him from multiple directions. Based on the intervals and deep thuds of the steps, whatever it was coming at him, was heavy and will slam him to the ground if he did not act.

And soon he saw five massive bipedal, horribly deformed reptilian-like creatures charging at him from all directions, they lacked any facial features save for large mouths filled with human-like teeth and black substance seemed "bleeding" from their bodies.

Artorias readied himself and, when the creatures were merely an inch away from him, he flipped high to the air and satisfying heavy bumps of the creatures crashing together were heard shortly after.

He readied his talisman mid-air and spoke an epic tale of his faith which manifested in the form a Great Sunlight Spear. He hurled his ethereal weapon to the water's surface right in the center of the crowd, both the immense electricity and heat turned the creatures into piles of ash which were quickly consumed by the waters.

Artorias landed like a cat. However, the distinct whistle of a weapon being swung coming from his rear caused lightning to shoot up his nerves. He rolled out of the way, but the weapon managed to scratch his armor, and even then, the force delivered was enough to send a jolt of pain throughout his body.

It felt...wrathful.

Artorias turned to face the threat, and realized who his attacker really was.

"Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you in person," Artorias greeted Elana, the Squalid Queen, pointing his gleaming greatsword towards her.

"Knight Abysswalker, you are a fearless one. A fine knight of the Abyss you would be, have you not defied us," growled Elana, sweeping her Wrathful Axe to the side.

"You creatures of light always think so highly of yourselves, looking down on us bearers of the Dark Soul as if we are worse than nothing. Do you see not? We are merely proceeding the cycle. Gwyn is a vainglorious fool who just cannot accept the reality that nothing lasts forever. One day the Fire will fade...and only Dark will remain."

Artorias' shoulders dropped, for Elana has spoken nothing but the truth. The truth that was once his ideal, now turned to his greatest disgrace. Artorias lowered his weapon, much to Elana's surprise.

"True, my old lord was blinded with power...with his Age of Fire. And I was no exception. We shunned the humans and their Dark Souls, fearing that they will usher in an age of Dark. In the process, we judged them with narrow minds and prejudice, did unspeakable things to them, even flooding an entire city filled with humans to confine the Abyss and its minions whereas not all humans were infected. What Your Majesty said is true, we are too blind to accept the natural order whereas we are all just pawns to the cycle."

"Then we share the same mind. Why are you here with great hostility?" Elana inquired.

"I could ask you the same. You threaten this land with an unspeakable catastrophe, a land that never saw the kind of war we have drenched ourselves in."

"Do not use such an excuse, knight! Your kind is not unfamiliar to such atrocities. You slaughtered the dragons of old until none of them remained! Now I ask you this, have they ever saw such wars before?"

Artorias remained silent, truly knowing the answer...

"Such is the cycle of Light and Dark." Elana grinned.

"Your Majesty, should you cling to such way of thinking, then this vicious cycle will never end. It's time to finish this. In this land, I have seen its inhabitants perform incredible feats of kindness to solve great hardships. They helped me, a being forged in the flames of war, to find peace. Something I thought to be impossible, after failing my mission and being tainted by the darkness I was supposed to destroy. I'm sure if Your Majesty is willing to cast away all old hatred and vengeance, to start anew..."

Artorias lifted his head and gazed right into Elana's eyes.

"I am sure they are more than willing to help you. However if we must fight, I will not hesitate, for if I fail, many more souls will be in peril."

Silence greeted Artorias for a bit, but soon Elana started laughing. A chuckle at first, but then it became hysterical and filled with unbridled madness.

"How naive, and here I thought a Knight of Gwyn would've known better. Do you think I wanted peace?! All I wanted is to see everything and everyone consumed by the Abyss. I feel nothing but an insatiable hunger for vengeance. You, and all dwellers of this land, shall rot."

"So be it."

Author's Note

HAAYYY WERENT EXPECTING THAT WERE YA?!

Again, thank you so much for XIII Hearts for editing this chapter.

My apologies for not updating in ages guys (again). With me entering a new phase in life (COLLEGE!) things are getting busier compared to Senior High School (that being said, it's safe to say that I am gradually turning into a Hollow LOL)

We are very very close to the finish guys, bear with me.