Deeper Than Tartarus

by SolarCloak

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Adventure
Length: 7065

Some things are better forgotten, while others should not be forgotten at all.

Five hundred years ago Celestia defeated a strong foe. She had him imprisoned on an island to the west of Equestria where he would be no danger to anypony. Now he has escaped, and is headed straight for Canterlot.

Published 2017-01-04 03:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-07 00:42:43 UTC

Chapter 2: The First Death

Twilight and Cadence arrived at Canterlot together. The sisters in law had been having a spa weekend when they were called to Canterlot by Princess Luna. The ponies headed straight for the royal palace. Upon arrival they noticed an increase in the amount of guards stationed throughout the city. An armed escort brought them from Ponyville to the palace. They went through the palace until they arrived at the throne room. The guards opened the large golden doors for the two princesses. Inside was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, aswell as multiple other ponies. Each was a high ranking official in the Equestrian army. They were all seated at a round table that had been brought into the throne room for this meeting. The princesses took their seats so the meeting could begin.

"Thank you everypony for coming on such short notice." Celestia said the the ponies gathered before her."This is a matter of the utmost importance." the princess of the sun said. All the ponies looked at one another with worried expressions on their faces."We have gathered you all to tell you that a great foe has returned to Equestria. He is unlike any enemy anypony here has ever faced. I first encoutered him five hundred years ago, whilst my sister was banished to the moon. I am the only living pony with first hoof experience with this foe" the solar princess said. The ponies broke into small converstaions with one another, discussing their foe. Spitfire, the captain of the wonderbolts, stood up.

"Who is our foe, your majesty? And how has he been able to live for the past five hundred years?" the yellow pegasus asked. The other ponies in attendance nodded at the question, looking at their princess for answers.

"His name is Ignatius. He is a species that is unknown to us. When I encoutered him all those years ago I fought him. I only just defeated him. I was left very weak after the battle. I had him imprisoned on an island to the west of Equestria, where I was sure he would never hurt anypony again." the princess of the day said."I assumed he would die of old age, but this however did not happen and now princess Luna has sensed his return." princess Celestia said. The ponies broke into small conversations once again. Shining Armour then stood up.

"Surely, your majesty, if you could defeat him once you could defeat him again. Also, last time you were on your own, this time you have three other alicorns ready to aid you" the captain of the guard spoke. The officials nodded their heads once again.

"I fear that he may have grown stronger during his capture." the princess of the sun said."We need to proceed into this with caution. If we go rushing in, hundreds of lives could be lost again." the solar princess said. There was silence from the ponies. Twilight spoke up.

"Do we even know where he is? Maybe he mightn't even return to Equestria." the purple alicorn said. Celestia looked at her star pupil.

"I am certain he will return. Ane this time he will need to be stopped. Perminently." the princess said sternly.

"I will have the wonderbolts out looking for him immediatly." Spitfire said getting out of her chair to leave the throne room.

"This meeting is adjourned." the lunar princess said. All the officials got up and left the throne room, leaving only the four princesses. Twilight walked over to her mentor.

"Is he really as bad as the books I've read say?" Twilight asked Celestia. The solar princess looked her in the eyes.

"I'm afraid so. Equestria is in deep trouble now. We need a miracle." the princess of the sun said.

***

A boot slammed into the sand, leaving a deep footprint. Ignatius looked around. There was nopony around him. He looked back in the direction he had come. Footprints could been seen on the waters surface. He had used his magic to allow him to walk on the surface of the water. He turned back to the beach infront of him. He pictured the map in his head once again. The city of Canterlot was a three day walk, east of his current location. He made his way up the beach. As he did he thought of a quote from a famous warrior from his world."We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender". That is what Ignatius planned to do if they tried to capture him again. He would fight to the death. He marched up the beach, the sand crunching underneath his weight. Last time he had set foot on Equestrian soil he left destruction and bodies in his wake. The ponies assumed that he killed them all. They were wrong. He tried to explain his innocence but they refused to listen. He remebered the pony that would come every now and then, he couldn't keep track of time in the cell. He would ask him where he came from and how he got his power. The answer was he didn't know. When he tried to explain that they would shock him with a spell and call him a liar. They wanted to find out how to harness his power and use it to Equestria's benefit. Eventually they gave up asking him. Ignatius reached the end of the beach and looked at the horizon. In the distance he could see a large forest. To the right of the village he managed to make out the outline of a city. He decided he would make a small stop before heading to Canterlot. He began to walk in the direction of the city.

***

Equestria was on high alert. All the guards in each city were told to expect an attack at any time. All borders had been closed and citizens were starting to sense that something was wrong. When they would ask the guards what was going on, they were told it was a drill organised by Celestia. None of the citizens beleived this, and so a state of panic began to emerge. Celestia realised that she could not keep the matter a secret for much longer or she would soon have riots on her hooves. She decided to issue a statement saying that an extremely dangerous criminal was on the loose. This calmed the citizens slightly but they were still worried at the thought of a dangerous criminal on the loose. Celestia then told everypony not to worry, that the soldiers were working day and night to capture the criminal. Eventually there was a reasonable amount of calmness from the citizens.

Celestia paced around her study. It had been three days since the meeting. There had been no sign of the escaped prisoner. This worried Celestia greatly. She knew he would be coming straight for her. As she was pacing a guard bursted in.

"Your majesty, there has been a possible sighting." the guard said. Celestia rushed over to him, grabbing him by his armour.

"Where was the sighting?" she asked the guard.

"A farmer reported seeing a hooded figure walking through the countryside near Vanhoover a day ago. He thought nothing of it until he arrived home and heard about the escaped criminal. The report just arrived here this morning." the guard said. Celestia released her grip on his armour.

"I want a battalion sent to Vanhoover immediatly. I also want you to get word to my sister, Twilight and Cadence. Tell them all to head to Vanhoover. We must stop the prisoner there before he can go any further." Celestia barked. The guard saluted and ran out of the room, Celestia following close behind.

***

Celestia met up with her sister, Twilight and Cadence enroute to Vanhoover. They had linked up with the battalion also. The ponies stormed their way to Vanhoover. Since they were all on hoof, the battalion moved at a very slow pace. Luna had sent scouts ahead to warn the city guard at Vanhoover. As they were nearly at the city they saw somethine running towards them. The battalion readied itself for battle but realised it was one of the scouts. He was panting and out of breath. He collapsed infront of the princesses. Twilight helped him up.

"Your majesty, I just came from Vanhoover." the scout heaved.

"Is Ignatius there?" the solar princess questioned the scout. The scout looked at the princess.

"He was there, but he's long gone." the scout said. Celestia froze. Luna spoke to the scout.

"Where is the rest of your squad?" she asked him. The scout gave her a dark look.

"They're in what's left of the city, looking for survivors." the scout said. Luna looked at him confused.

"What do you mean, what's left of the city?" she questioned the scout. Before she got an answer, the battalion had arrived at the city. The sight was horrific. The city was ablaze, many of the buildings were destoyed, clouds of smoke rose from the rubble. The city had been destroyed. The battalion rushed towards to the city to aid the scouts looking for survivors. The four princesses stood where they were, looking at the ruin of the city. Tears began to roll down Celetia's cheeks.

"We were too late." the princess sobbed.

The princesses walked through the ruined streets of Vanhoover. The soldiers were going from building to building looking for survivors. So far they had only found fourteen. The streets were covered in rubble. Bodies could be seen beneath some of the boulders that had fallen off buildings. Large, dark rainclouds began to form above th city. The rain began to pour down onto the city below. Celestia looked at the chaos that surrounded her. Her foe had become much stronger since there last encounter. This level of destruction was even beyond that of Discord. Luna walked over to her sister and placed a wing on her back.

"You could not have prevented this." the lunar princess said.

"I could have tried." the solar princess responded, fresh tears forming at her eyes.

"The best thing we can do now is to continue to look for survivors, and then bury the dead." the princess of the night said softly. Celestia looked at the pile of bodies that the soldiers had collected. Each pony had a family. Each pony had a life, and it had been taken from them. Celestia promised she would avenge her fallen ponies.

***

Ignatius stood stop a large hill overlooking the ruins of Vanhoover. He watched as the battalion stormed into the city. He looked at the chaos that stood before him. This had not been his doing. He raised a hand, forming dark rainclouds above the city. The rain poured down into the city. The remaining fires that were still ablaze in the city went out. Ignatius looked at the city, before turning and continuing in the direction of Canterlot.

Chapter 3: Equestria In Chaos

The battalion finished burying the last of the dead at the edge of the city. The four princesses stood infront of the sea of makeshift tombstones. There was too many to count and the wooden crosses went as far the eye could see. Luna began to mumble a prayer quietly to herself, blessing the ponies with safe passage to the next life. Celestia stared at the mass graveyard, a broken expression on her face.

"Your majesty." one of the guards said, trying to capture the princess's attention."We should begin our journey back to Canterlot. He is still out there." the guard said. Celestia glanced at the guard. She wiped a tear from her eye and gave a small nod.

"You're right general. We should get back to Canterlot as soon as possible. Ignatius could still be lurking nearby. We're sitting ducks as it is, what with burying all the ponies." the princess of the sun said."Everypony, move out." the princess ordered. The battalion shifted into action and began to march. The four princesses stood at the front of the battalion. Celestia stared at the ground as they marched. Luna took over control of the battalion as she saw that her sister was not of able mind at the current time. Twilight went over to Celestia to try and console her.

"You need to be easier on yourself." The purple alicorn said."Even if we had made it in time, who knows if we would have been able to stop what happened." Twilight said, trying to comfort the princess of the sun. Celestia looked at her prized student.

"Thank you Twilight." The white alicorn said. Cadence joined the two alicorns.

"What's important now is that we don't let something like this happen again." the princess of love said. The other two alicorns nodded in agreement."From what I could gather, it looks like he is heading in the direction of Canterlot. As far as I'm aware, there are no other towns or cities between here and Canterlot." The pink alicorn said. The alicorns marched on.

"He'll plan to strike the city, and when he does we'll be ready, throwing everything we've got at him." the solar princess said. The pink and purple alicorns nodded in agreement. They continued their march back to Canterlot.

***

Ignatius continued his walk towards Canterlot. He had left the battalion long behind, as they had stopped to bury the dead. As he walked he tries to think of what might have happened at the city. He hadn't felt any unusual power surges during the chaos. He had been walking along the outskirts of the city when he heard the first explosion. The moment he did he transported himself out of the city to the nearby hill. If he had known how bad the damage would be, he would have transported the population out also. Sadly one of the skills he lacked was time travel. He continued to think about the incident as he walked along the Equestrian countryside. The fields stretched as far the eye could see and were as green as emeralds. Equestria was truely a beautiful place to behold. He couldn't understand how such a place of peace, could have such chaos.

***

A hooded figure trailed Ignatius as he walked along the outskirts of Vanhoover. As the figure was following Ignatius, he stopped near the edge of the city. The figure looked at one of the buildings beside Ignatius. He pictured the building bursting into flames. The firgure raised it's hand and the building caught fire. Instantly screams could be heard through the city. The figure turned around to see that more than one building had caught fire. He had not yet gained full control over his new powers. He turned back to find Ignatius, but he was gone. The figure turned back to the city, and a wicked smile grew on his face. He raised both his hands and the city went to hell.

***

The battalion was halfway back to Canterlot at this point. Celestia had taken back control of the battalion. As they were marching a small gourp of pegasi flew down to them. They were a group of wonderbolts. Spitfire landed infront of Celestia.

"Your majesty." The yellow pegasus said bowing.

"What news have you got?" The solar princess asked.

"A cloaked figure was spotted heading in the direction of the Crystal Empire. They have already been alertes and are on standby." the captain of the wonderbolts said. Celestia thought for a moment.

"This doesn't seem right. Why would he go to the Crystal Empire. This could be a trick. I will go to the Crystal Empire with Cadence. Twilight, I want you and Luna to return to Canterlot. I will need you both to defend the city if we fail at the Crystal Empire." Celestia said. Cademce nodded at her aunt. Luna and Twilight both looked at the white alicorn. Luna nodded a silent goodbye. Twilight hugged her mentor before flying off with the princess of the night."Let's get moving to the Crystal Empire" the princess shouted at the battalion. They turned and headed in the direction of the Crystal Empire.

***

Princess Luna and Princess Twilight arrived back at Canterlot shortly before dusk. Luna ordered all the guards to stay on high alert and to be prepared for an imminent attack. She also ordered the guards to start evacuating citizens to nearby cities, until the crisis was averted. Many of the citizens were in uproar about being moved from their homes. When they were told about what happened at Vanhoover, they were more than willing to leave. Soon enough the entire city had been evacuated of all civilian personel. The city was placed in lock down. Nopony was allowed in or out without permission from the princesses. Luna and Twilight sat in the throne room.

"This is like the calm before the storm." Twilight said. Luna looked at the purple alicorn.

"You worry for my sister and your sister in law?" The princess of the night asked.

"Of course, you saw the damage this thig did. How will they be able to defeat it?" Twilight asked the dark blue alicorn. Luna looked at the young alicorn.

"What Celestia and Cadence need right now is our belief in them to stop Ignatius. If they feel that we doubt them, then they will doubt themselves also, guaranteeing their defeat." the lunar princess said. The two alicorns sat in silence in the throne room. Time passed slowly as the princesses waited for an update. As they waited Luna's horn began to glow. She cast a spell creating a small mirror. In the mirror Celestia and Cadence could be seen.

"Sister." Luna said."Is everything alright?" she asked the solar princess.

"Everything is fine. Ignatius has arrived at the Crystal Empire. He is currently walking towards the city. We are planning an attack as we speak." The princess of the sun said.

"We have evacuated the city." Luna said to her sister."Incase things come to the worst.".

"We did the same here. Hopefully we will be victorius in our battle against Ignatius." The white alicirn said. Suddenly a guard burst into the throne room.

"Your majesty, he's here. One of our scout spotted him approaching from the north west." The guard panted. Luna looked at the guard, wide eyed.

"What does thou mean, he is here. That is impossible, he is at the Crystal Empire." Luna bellowed. The guard just shook his head.

"The scouts confirmed it was him, he'll be here within the hour." the guard said. Luna turned back to face her sister.

"This isin't possible." Luna said. Her sister looked at her through the magic mirror.

"I don't know what's going on, but if he is somehow here and there then you need to prepare to engage him." Celestia said to her sister."We need to stop two of him now." The solar princess said.

"What if we do not have the strength to stop two of him?" Luna asked her sister.

"Then Equestria will be destroyed." Celestia said bluntly, stopping the mirror spell. Luna looked at Twilight with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Prepare for the hardest fight of your entire life Twilight." Luna said as she left the throne room.

***

Ignatius reached the top of the small hill. He could see Canterlot castle on the edge of the mountain from here. His goal was in sight. He would soon be able to seek revenge for his wrongful imprisonment.

Far to the north the cloaked figure continued advancing towards the Crystal Empire. He could see the ponies in the distance, setting up defences to slow him down. He looked at the large Crystal city infront of him. He imagined all the crystal with large cracks running through them. He raised his hands and pointed them at the city.

Chapter 4: A Battle On Two Fronts

Celestia walked out of the throne room in the Crystal Empire accompanied by Princess Cadence and Shining Armour. The white alicorn turned to her niece. She stood beside her husband with a worried look on her face.

"How can he be both here, and at Canterlot?" the princess of love asked. The princess of the sun shook her head.

"I'm not sure. But if it's true then we must defeat him here and at Canterlot." Celestia said."I want you and Shining Armour to stay with Flurry Heart. I will not let your daughter lose her parents, when I could have helped them survive. Take her to Cloudsdale, you should be safe there." the solar princess said. The pink alicorn looked at her aunt.

"I will not abandon Equestria in it's time of need." the pink alicorn said sternly."My daughter can be taken to Cloudsdale by the royal guard. When she grows up, she will know that her mother and father gave their lives so that she may have a future." Cadence said. The two alicorns stared at one another intensely. Shining came between them.

"Incase you've forgotten, we have an extremely powerful and dangerous enemy at our doorstep." the stallion said."We need a plan of action now, if we want to have any hope of defeating him." the unicorn said. The two alicorns looked at the white unicorn, remebering the situation they were in.

"You're right Shining Armour. We need to think of a plan." Celestia said.

"We should throw everything we've got at him, try and overpower him." Cadence suggested. The other two ponies thought about it for a moment.

"It's the only real plan we've got." Shining Armour said. Celestia nodded.

"Very well, we shall send out all soldiers to engage him. Once he is worn down, the three of us will engage him together. He won't be able to take on all three of us at once. With any luck we'll be able to put an end to him." the princess of the sun said. The three ponies left the throne room.

***

Princess Luna and Princess Twilight headed for the city walls. They had both agreed that they would fight on the front line alongside the soliders, who were willing to lay down their lives for them. The wall was lined with guards. There was also a large battalion gather outside the city's wall as a first line of defence. The ponies waited for their foe to come to them. In the distance one of the guards spotted a cloaked figure. He shouted out to his comrades. The soldiers took up a defencive stance, spears pointed in the direction of the oncoming figure. The cloaked figure stopped a bit away from the battalion. Luna and Twilight flew down to the battalion. They waited for their opponent to move. He stood there, not moving an inch.

"Surrender yourself now, or face the consequences." princess Luna shouted. The figure stood there. He raised a hand and lowered his hood. The ponies eyes widened. They had never seen such a creature in their life. The figure spoke.

"Please lower your weapons. I only require to speak with the princess who controls the sun." he said. Luna and Twilight stared at him.

"Why do you wish to speak to my sister?" Luna asked. The creature smiled.

"I simply wish to ask for compensation for my wrongful imprisonment" the creature said.

"Wrongful." Luna shouted."Your imprisonment was not wrongful, it was merciful. You should have been executed for the amount of lives you took." the princess of the night shouted. The smile vanished from the creature's face.

"I haven't killed anyone." he said.

"That's a lie." Twilight shouted."You murdered hundreds of ponies over five hundred years ago." the princess of friendship shouted."Now it's time you pay properly for those lives you took then, and the ones you took at Vanhoover." Twilight shouted at the creature.

"I am telling you, I have never killed a single creature while in this land." the creature said."The only aggression I ever showed was when your princess attacked me. I defended myself, but was overpowered. Then I was thrown in prison for something I didn't do." the creature said.

"Enough!" princess Luna shouted."You have the gall to stand here and tell us you didn't kill anypony when you are here attacking the city aswell as the Crystal Empire." the dark blue alicorn said. The creature had a confused look on it's face."I don't want to hear anymore of your lies.". The princess's horn lit up.

"Wait!" the creature shouted. Luna's horn stopped glowing."What do you mean attacking this city. I haven't made a single offensive move against you." the creature said."And what do you mean I'm also attacking the Crystal Empire?".

"My sister told me that a cloaked figure matching your description is currently outside the Crystal Empire attacking the city." Luna said. A look of realisation came upon the creatures face.

"That must be the perpetrator." the creature said."The thing you say is attacking the Crystal Empire must be the one responsible for all those years ago and for Vanhoover." the creature said."We need to go there right now and stop it.".

"How doo we know we can trust you?" Twilight asked. The creature fell to it's knees.

"Take me as your prisoner until we get there. I don't care what I have to do, just get me to the Crystal Empire." the creature pleaded. Luna looked at Twilight.

"Very well. Guards chain him up and throw him on a cart. We move for the Crystal Empire." Luna ordered.

***

The Crystal Empire was shattering. Cracks were running through almost every building except the royal palace. The soldiers had engaged the figure but were no match for it's sheer strength. The two alicorns and SHining Armour had become occupied trying to stop the city from collapsing. Their efforts would of been futile anyway. There seemed no end to the creature magic powers. Shining Armour ran over to the two alicorns.

"We can't keep using our magic to repair the city, we need to save it to fight it." Shining said to the two alicorns.

"He's right." Cadence said."We won't have any strength left if we keep this up.". Celestia nodded. The two alicorns stopped casting the repairing spells. Two buildings shattered almost immediatly.

"We need to take the fight to him." Celestia said.

"Right!" Cadence and Shining Armour said in unison. The three ponies ran out of the city in the direction of the battle. There was soldiers littering the ground left, right and centre. The creature was swatting them away like flies. He noticed the three oncoming ponies and advanced towards them. He could sense the strength of the two alicorns. This battle would be amsuing to him. He looked at the unicorn. His strength paled in comparison the the alicorns. He raised his hand and pointed it at the white unicorn. Shining Armour collapsed as they were running. Cadence immediatly rushed to his aid.

"What's wrong Shining?" she asked her husband.

"My leg, it's been broken." he said in pain. He lay on the ground holding his hoof."You need to go on without me. Try and take him down." the unicorn said to his wife. She nodded and kissed him. The two alicorns turned to face their foe.

"This ends now Ignatius!" Celestia shouted at the figure. The creature could be seen smiling beneath it's hood. The creature raised it's hands at the two alicorns. A large explosion occured behind them, causing the two to jump away from one another."Give it everything you've got Cadence." Celestia shouted, her horn lighting up. The two alicorns started to fire spells at the creature. Unlike the guards, the alicorns were actually making an impact against the creature. He was pushed back a few paces. His smile had turned to a growl at this point.

"Enough!" the creature shouted. A large burst of energy errupted from him knocking the two alicorns to the ground."Equestria belongs to me now." it shouted. The creature raised it's hands and pointed them at the two alicorns, who were laying there defenceless. Before anything happened the creature exploded in a cloud a black smoke. The two alicorns turned to see another creature, accompanied by Princess Luna and Princess Twilight. The battalion had also arrived. Luna and Twilight ran over to the three ponies. Twilight hugged her brother and sister in law.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked her sister.

"I'm fine, who is that creature?" the white alicorn asked.

"That is Ignatius. He wasn't the one who commited the crimes sister. It was this creature here." Luna said. Celestia looked over at Ignatius.

"Why would you help us, after what we did to you?" Celestia asked Ignatius.

"You did nothing wrong. You followed your peoples laws. I have no quarrel with you. This human is who I have a quarrel with." Ignatius said. The alicorns stared at one another. The other human emerged from the cloud of smoke.

"I was wondering where you had gotten off to." the human said.

"You murdered hundreds of ponies, destroyed entire cities and had me wrongfully imprisoned. You will pay for what you've done." Ignatius shouted at the other human. The other human only laughed.

"You really think you can stop me. My power is unmatched." he bellowed. He raised his hands at Ignatius. Ignatius didn't move an inch."Let's see you survive after this." the human said. There was a quick flash followed by a loud explosion. The area where Ignatius was standing was covered in smoke. The alicorns had retreat to a safe distance to let the two humans battle it out. The smoke suddnely vanished, revealing Ignatius standing in the exact same spot. The other human's eyes widened."That's impossible, that should have killed you." the human shouted.

"You have not yet learned to fully master your powers." Ignatius said."You only came here at the time when I was wrongly imprisoned. Your attacks on the ponies wasn't your fault. You had no control over your powers." Ignatius said. The human stared at him in shock."Everything you did was an accident." Ignatius said. A tear rolled down the human's cheek.

"I never meant to kill anyone or destroy cities. I couldn't control it. The power was just too much for me to handle." the human said, streams of tears now rolling down his face.

"You were only a child when you came here." Ignatius said. The human nodded."I'm sorry this happened to you, but it doesn't excuse you for what you have done since." Ignatius said."I have been here for millenia, watching over the life forms on the planet. I have almost been a sort of god to this world, shaping certain events" Ignatius said. He raised his hand and pointed it at the human. The human raised his hands in defence.

"Please don't kill me." the human sobbed. Ignatius shook his head.

"I have always had one rule while in this world. I will never take a life. I am going to send you back to our world." Ignatius said. The human looked at him, joy glistening in his eyes.

"You mean, you can send me home?" he asked.

"Yes. I do not know to what time you will return, but you will return none the less." Ignatius said. The human nodded his thanks. Ignatius raised his hand once more. A small ball formed around the human. It burned bright yellow. The ball began to shrink and when it was gone so was the human. Celestia walked over to Ignatius.

"Thank you for saving us. I am sorry that I wrongfully imprisoned you all those years ago." she said.

"You are forgiven." Ignatius said.

"What will you do now?" Celestia asked.

"The one who caused these problems was a human. As I am a human myself, I will take responsability for the humans actions. I will return back to the cell I was imprisoned in and wait until I feel that I have served enough time." Ignatius said.

"What if another human comes to Equestria?" Celestia asked. Ignatius smiled.

"You know where to find me." he said walking away from the princess. Princess Luna trotted over to her sister.

"This is going to take a long time to repair." she said.

"Indeed, but at least Equestria is safe." Celestia said, watching Ignatius as he faded into the distance.

***

Ignatius stood on the beach of the island he had spent five hundred years on. He walked up the the main gate and walked across the wooden bridge. He enetered the prison. He walked down the stairs to his cell. He closed the cell behind him and cast a spell on the door. he sat on the floor and crossed his legs. He thought of something in his head.

Back in the Crystal Empire the buildings began to repair themselves. The injured soldier were cured of their injuries.

A smile grew on Ignatius's face. He sat alone in his cell, deeper than Tartarus.

Author's Note

So this is the last chapter. I know the ending is quite abrupt, I apologise if you are unpleased with it. But this is just the way I had planned out the story. Hopefully my future stories will be three times as long. I may make other stories that refer to this one, but the chances of that depened on what people think of this story and it's timeline. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading and I'll see you in the next story!

Chapter 1: An Unseen Possibility

A cool sea breeze swept through the island prison. There was a constant patrol of guards around the perimeter. The guard patrol consisted of one earth pony, one unicorn and one pegasus. This combination was chosen to ensure victory in any scenario. There was ten patrols in total on the island. The island itself was surrounded by five ships, each containing fourteen crew members. In total there was one hundred ponies guarding the island. The amount of prisoners on the island was one.

The prisoner was not a pony. He was a species unfamiliar to the ponies of Equestria. When the prisoner first arrived in Equestria he wreaked chaos and havoc, going from town to town slaughtering ponies that dared to stand against him. By the time Celestia was informed of this menace, he had already killed hundreds of ponies. It was at this time Celestia decided to take action herself. She waited at the next town it was guessed he would attack. Celestia engaged the prisoner in one on one combat, only defeating her foe by a hair. After he was defeated she had the island prison built to hold him and make sure he could never cause such chaos again.

The prison itself was the structure of a basic castle. It had four stone pillars at each corner. There was one main gate, which led in or out of the prison. The castle itself was surrounded by a small moat, and then there was the ocean. A two pony operated drawbridge allowed anypony access across the moat. A magical barrier cast by Celestia herself prevented any pegasi flying into the prison or unicorns teleporting. She didn't want to take any chances with this prisoner.

When the prisoner was originally captured, Celestia had it announced that it had been executed, so as to veer away any enemies of Equestria that might aim to use the prisoner to their advantage.

The prisoner was kept inside a stone structure at the centre of the prison. The structure went down twenty stories. The soldiers had taken to calling it deeper than Tartarus. The prison cell stood at the bottom of those twenty stories. Between the cell and the exit to the prison stood another hundred of Celestia's finest. If there was the slightest chance that the prisoner would escape, it would be extremely hard for it to do so.

At surface level, above the prison, was the command centre. This was where the warden resided. He was required to send a letter to Princess Celestia every day to ensure that the prisoner was still in custody. This was truely the highest security prison in all of Equestria.

Once a week, an interrogation pony was sent to to speak with the prisoner, to see what information they could extact from it. So far they had gotten the bare minimum. All they had learned was the prisoner's name and where he had come from. His name was Ignatius and he had come through some portal from a place called Earth. This place was unfamiliar to the ponies and thus didn't give them much to go on. They continued to interrogate the prisoner each week to no avail.

After a few months Celestia gave up on the interrogation attempts. After the first year the security detail had been cut in half. After ten years the prison was reduced to a mere fifteen guards total, guarding the whole prison. The five ships had been pulled out and called elsewhere. By the end of the first hundred years Celestia had practically forgotten about the prison. Once the guards became too old they sailed back to Equestria. The island became abandoned and the prisoner was left there to die.

Four hundreds years passed since the last guard pulled out of the prison. The island had become off limits to the public and ships were not allowed within ten kilometres of it. The prison had gone to ruin, the stone worn away by the elements. There was silence on the island. Nothing stirred. For four hundred years there was silence from the island. Then there was an awakening.

***

The prisoner looked out into the darkness of his cell. He felt a cool breeze brush against his face. It was time for him to leave this infernal cell. He walked over to the cell and placed his hand against it. He pushed hard against the metal. It fell out of it's frame. After four hundred years the metal had corroded away, allowing him to push open the cell door. He stepped out into the long narrow corridor. It was pitch black. He felt along the wall until he found an old torch. He placed his hand around. He thought hard of heat and warmth. A few moments later tha torch was lit. He lifted it up to get a better view of his surroundings. The walls were covered in cracks and moss. The prisoner made his way along the corridor in the direction of the exit. He came the the first step of the stairs. He looked above him at the ceiling. He imagined a clear passage straight up to the surface. He raised his hand and closed his eyes. When he opened them a tunnel had appeared above his head. He then looked at the ground below him. He imagined the ground rising to bring him to the surface. He pointed his hand at the ground and closed his eyes. He felt the ground moving upwards. He opened his eyes to see the light at the top of the tunnel getting closer. He eventually reached the surface. He looked around at the abandoned prison. The walls had mostly collapsed and grass was growing through the stone. He realised he had been alone for some time. He walked to the gate. He raised his hand and pictured the gate opening. The drawbridge slowly began to lower until it hit the ground with a thud. The prisoner walked across the bridge. As soon as he stepped of the wooden bridge onto the grass he realised he was now a free man. He looked around to see where the nearest land mass was. There was only ocean as far as the eye could see. He closed his eyes and imagined a map. He saw a large land mass to the east of him. He walked down to the beach of the island. He looked in the direction of the east. It was time for him to return to Equestria, and this time there would be no alicorn princess to stop him.

***

Celestia sat upon her golden throne, attending to the requests of her citizens that were in attendace of her morning court. As she was doing so her sister barged in. She had a worried look on her face. Celestia told her subjects that the court was closed and would resume later. All of her subjects left, many grumbling complaints as they left. Once the last citizen left Celestia sat down with her sister.

"What is the matter Luna. Why did you barge in to my court?" she asked her sister. The princess of the night gave her sister a dark look.

"I have felt his presence." she spoke softly. Her sister looked at her confused.

"Felt who's presence?" she asked her sister.

"Ignatius." the dark blue alicorn said sternly. Celestia's eyes widened at the mention of the name. She looked at her sister.

"But that's impossible, he died hundreds of years ago." she said, slightly flustered. The princess of the night looked at her sister.

"We assumed he would die, we never confirmed that he was actually dead." Luna said. The sisters sat in silence.

"Do you know where he is?" Celestia asked her sister."We cannot allow him to return to Equestria, too many lives will be at risk." the princess of the sun said.

"I only felt his presence, I don't know where he is. He could already be slaughtering ponies for all we know." the lunar princess said. Celestia stopped to think for a moment.

"I want all guard counts in every city doubled. I also want patrols out looking for him. If he is in Equestria we will find him. And this time we shall put an end to him." the solar princess said.

"I'll alert the captain at once." Luna said getting up to leave."Should we inform Cadence and Twilight also?" she asked.

"Yes. If he really is back, then we are going to need all the help we can get." Celestia said. The princess of the night left the throne room, leaving Celestia alone. A single tear fell down the princess's cheek.