Family bonding

In Tartarus, there was not a day and night cycle, not as ponies knew of it, anyway, for there was no sun there, nor any moon. As such, it was a literal work of magic that any could see in the forsaken place. Those unlucky enough to be sent here, such as Luna, Celestia, Sombra, and Chrysalis, adjusted their days on how tired they were, because, and Sombra had said this himself, if you tried to keep track of time here, you would go mad. This meant the only measurements of time that worked here were 'later', 'earlier', 'now', and 'soon'. Of course, there was slight time dilation, which meant, in this case, time passed slight faster in Tartarus. Not to the point ten years there would be just five, more like eight and a half to nine years.

This did not help Luna or Celestia, as both were worried about their subjects.

"You two must stop caring for your subjects while we are here," Sombra said once everyone had awoken from their previous sleep, which had begun not long after they arrived. "This place will use that against you, and make you go insane, becoming a demon of this infernal place." He looked back at his daughters and wife. "It nearly happened to me when I was here."

"Why's that, father," Luna said. "I didn't think you cared for anypony."

"I nearly became one," he said, "because of you three." This got a look of shock from Celestia and Luna. "I know you think I am a terrible father, and I will admit that I was, but what I did, I did so that you two would become great rulers. Of course, the fact you have to keep dealing with threats shows that I failed to teach you, or you failed to listen. Given how stubborn the two of you are, I would say the latter."

"I would have said you are a terrible teacher," Celestia said. "But I admit that we can save the argument until after Hades is returned here."

"One of the first sensible things you've said, Celly," Chrysalis said, getting a glare.

"I told you not to use that nickname, mother," Celestia said.

"It's not a nickname, and you know it," the changeling queen said. "What is a nickname, though, is what you call yourself."

"Here we go again," Luna mumbled, to which Sombra nodded.

"Because you can not be a respectable ruler with the name you gave me," Celestia said. "Ponies would simply laugh," she said, to which her mother scoffed.

"Only if you let them," she said. "You earn respect for what you do, not your name. If you knew that, then maybe we wouldn't be here."

"How so?" Celestia asked. "Because last time I checked, it was Father who was in charge of ensuring he didn't escape!"

"If you had the respect of your brother, whom we both know you hate, he may have helped Sombra keep him here."

"Both of you, stop!" Luna yelled getting between the two. "If there should be any here arguing, it should be between father and I," she said. "As it stands, the two of you are acting like foals. I would have thought you, Celestia, would be at least mature enough to avoid that, but it would seem that I was wrong. Now, we are going to stop arguing, get out of Tartarus, send Hades back here, and then we can argue. Does that seem good enough to you two?"

Both were silent, glaring at each other before Chrysalis said, "It's a wonder you were corrupted, Lulu, when you seem to be the more mature of you and your sister. I can agree with it."

"As can I," Celestia said.

"Then lets get moving," Sombra said, looking at a spire that appeared in the west of their camp during their sleep. "That's the way we need to go to get out of here."

"And how are you going to get there," Luna asked. "You don't have wings."

"You forget that I am here," Chrysalis said. "As long as you two help me, we may be able to get there before it disappears."

"Then let's get this over with," Celestia said, wanting to get back to her subjects as soon as possible. You see, something she kept secret, even from Luna, is that she had, in her mind, unfortunately inherited their mother's metabolism, which is to say she needed love to feed on to survive. That's to say she found it unfortunate, even with all the ponies loving her to some degree, she had it, not that she thought she had it. And what she would have hated to tell herself is that, though sisterly love was delectable, she absolutely craved the love her subjects gave her, Twilight and the Elements especially. She'd never try to manipulate them to get more, she simply found it a pleasure that was extremely shameful, but needed for survival at the same time.

"Sister, I think Twilight Sparkle and the Elements will be able to at least hold Hades off until they arrive," Luna said. "I wish to get out of here as soon as possible as well, but still, you must have faith in Twilight Sparkle. She is your student, after all."

"She did defeat me," Sombra said.

"No, it was just pure luck, honey," Chrysalis said with a sweet smile. "Like it was with me."

Celestia rolled her eyes. Or the fact both of you are incompetent, she thought before she said. "Then you two must have had a very hard day."

"Oh ha, ha, Celly," Chrysalis said.

"Would you stop calling me that?" Celestia yelled. "You two were drunk when you gave me that name! It's Celestia!"

As those two began to get back at it, Luna leaned away from the two. "For you readers, the authors going to edit out the argument."

That we can agree on, Luna.

So, after that argument, Luna said, "Are you two done yet? We need to get a move on."

"For now, yes, we are finished," Celestia said.

"Then lets go," Sombra said. "Those mountains won't be there for long."

With that, the two alicorns and one changeling spread their wings. Chrysalis grabbed her husband by his chest, wrapping her arms around him, and took flight, with their daughters just under them to catch Sombra if needed.

"So what is the zone we're going to?"

"If I remember correctly, the zone is fear, so prepare yourselves," Sombra said. "That is where I nearly fell to myself."