The Power of Metalby bluecurse60ChaptersDescent #1Descent #2Demurring #1Demurring #2Descent #1Weightless. How Starlight hates these endless falling dreams. There are no stars, lights, or floating lanterns around her like the last time nor any tenseness and dread. The expanse around her is as blank as her boredom with it all. She wonders if it is weird to find her own dream tireless and predictable. Princess Luna suggested clearing my mind before bed to avoid bad dreams, I'm not sure this is what she had in mind. Is it possible to fall asleep in your own dream? Her horn lights up and a pink teacup and saucer appears before her face full of pure espresso. Honestly, how hard could Twilight's research paper be that she needs EVERYPONY'S help? Oh how she enjoys making new friendship lessons 'fun,' I'm worrying over nothing. Right? When she tries to take a sip from the cup a series of brown bubbles sprout from it and change into spinning ribbons. Starlight can only sigh and toss the teacup up to see what happens to it too. To her amusement, it inflates rapidly, flashing brilliant colors, squeaking loudly as it transforms into a kaleidoscopic painting. Ugh. That's the last time I eat ice cream and yogurt before bed, still at least something is happening now. A smile graces her face and she throws up the saucer like a frisbee. It stops mid-air still spinning and showers everything below it in stars. The whole area begins to brighten more as Starlight laughs. She sets her mind to something else when an awful feeling creeps up on her slowly and lingers uneasily long. A sour, chilling nausea weighing thick on both her shoulders until she forces herself to turn toward what she believes to be the assailant. A sweeping glare blinds her and the feeling of falling at once stops. When Starlight opens her eyes, she sees dimly lit cave walls around her with a light source coming from a small opening at the top. "Bewildered, lonely little unicorn." a strange voice crones. Starlight's ears perk up and she comes face to face with a twisted looking floating mask. The face carved on it curls slightly on either side into asymmetrical patterns as if the artist's steady strokes turned violent and unstable at the ends. "Goody, because nothing about this shouts 'creepy' at all. Has to be that ice cream." Starlight shrugs it off. The floating mask careens around and up along the dry cave walls erratically. "Oh so small, so energetic little thing. Do you know me?" the mask asks her. "I'm sure I read about repressed memories somewhere..." Starlight mutters. "Call me Needling Shivers, if you please, and give me your energy." the mask speaks frankly, "Or you will never go home, nothing simpler than that." It kicks up dust with each pass close to the ground. "It figures, you know what Needy Simpleton I'd rather go back to that dull falling dream than stay in this one. You're weird and all but I've seen worse, trust me." Starlight begins to lecture, "And you know what else? I got over my issues with taking magic a LONG time ago, so whatever you represent is way behind. I'm hoping I'm not interrupting Princess Luna whenever whatever this all is starts trying harder to be scary." The mask Needling Shivers presses hard against her snout in bitter resentment. "Ooo look at me I'm a special snowflake that puts down other's hard work. Well you aren't, smart aleck." Shivers sneers. Starlight turns her back on the entity and starts walking away indignantly. "Go ahead. There's only one way out, unicorn. I pulled you from that precious dream and only I can put you back." Shivers follows her too close for comfort. Each step on the rock floor echoes as the Shivers mask lets the silence lay heavy on Starlight's mind. At last she can see an exit and races toward it. She beholds a wide expanse of stone and fire, rolling jagged hills that emit a sickly green smoke, and screeching flying monsters diving at each other. She stands petrified. "Behold unicorn! The soft world you know is gone! Tartarus is your new home!" Shivers shouts gleefully. Starlight whips around in a mix of angry shock. "What're you trying to pull?" she demands. "Simple, submit your energy to me and you can go home. If not you can rot here." Shivers crows. Two snapping ghouls claw at each other over head and fly away as quickly as they came. Starlight growls irritated. "Princess Luna!" she calls out. Shivers grins happily too close to her face. "Quit it! Princess Luna!" Starlight backs up into a crumbling wall, a nearby greenish glow lighting her worried expression. "This place is no dream, you are trapped little pony until I say so." Roaring over head and ambience suited to the cruelest haunted house in Equestria ring in her ears. The rubble beneath her hooves and the off-putting smells all around tell Starlight plainly enough. This is Tartarus. Author's Note I'm really hoping that the hook before things go south isn't too clumsy. Descent #2"How did you do this?! How?!" Starlight demands louder and more infuriated. "Do you notice something unusual? Something that doesn't feel right? It's all you, of course. I pulled you from your dreaming body." Shivers details laughing. "That doesn't make sense! If you have that kind of magic, why do you even want mine in the first place?!" "Even if I told you, you'll have no use for that knowledge once I have what I want." Shivers draws closer, "Now give me that power." Starlight tries to teleport away to get a better vantage point to shoot at the mask, but her magic falters on her. Her horn only glows in vain. "Without that body, all your energy is good for is giving it to me." the entity gloats. To Starlight's surprise, many smaller, translucent masks appear behind Needling Shivers and tilt back and forth hypnotically. She struggles to keep her eyes away from the luring motion. All of them cut off her escape. Then the smaller faces groan in agony and flee scattering like terrified birds. A sharp, puncturing light shines behind Shivers who also shouts in a horrifying voice and flies swiftly away. Starlight ducks as it makes its own escape. Opening her eyes, she sees standing there a tall biped in a dusty, rust colored jacket, green brown cargo pants, and heavy working boots. The odd, messy, light red-violet hair is the least strange thing about him. The purifying light, coming out of half of his arm made of metal, scares away the last resilient ghostly mask easily. "Hate those things." the creature says annoyed, "What were they attacking now?" His immediately confused eyes meet Starlight's as she completely stands up. What in the world? "Uh hi. Thank you so much," she nervously introduces herself, "my name is Starlight Glimmer. You, uh, wouldn't happen to know a way out, would you?" The biped closes a panel on his metal arm that shuts off the light at the end and stares at her puzzled. "Is that a no?" she asks. Not even flying vermin loudly chasing each other passing by distract the two in this moment. He shakes his head quickly and knocks at the side of his head with the end of the cylindrical metal arm. "I don't care if I'm being rude but are you a talking purple unicorn? Or am I crazy?" he asks staring confused. A shrieking hiss comes from a close geyser precluding a spout of thick green smoke. Super, where's Fluttershy when you need her to teach him a thing or two. "Yeah, trust me where I come from unicorns are everywhere. I hope that's your only burning question, because there are definitely bigger things going on right now." Starlight speaks as politely as possible through startled mixed emotions. With his free hand the biped waves in front of his own face. "Right..." Starlight continues, "I really am thankful for what you did, and I can only hope that asking a small favor, well, wouldn't be asking too much?" In the distance a low rumble can be heard through the grey mist. "Uh huh, I'll tick this under maybe crazy," he concludes," heaven knows I've seen worse down here. Unicorns, honestly. If that's real, who knows what else is." As he starts walking away Starlight catches up to him quickly. Realizing her magic is defunct, she needs a plan and fast. The winding narrow stone steps down barely feel real under her hooves. What other choice do I have. If Twilight and her friends were here, they'd be befriending weird things like this before brunch. And it seems to have magic that works! "I guess I should start over then. My name is Starlight Glimmer and I'd like to know the name of the, uh, well, you that saved me." she stammers trying to find what to call the odd creature. She flashes another friendly awkward smile when he looks at her with an uncomfortable expression. "Okay...why don't you just call me Danny." he shrugs. "Also, is that your real name? Like on your birth certificate, if you have one anyway." "Yes. Why? No nevermind," she brushes it off, "Anyway," she continues confidently, "so Danny, can you tell me what's going on? I mean that weird mask thing said it separated me from my dreaming body which, if you ask me, makes no sense. Somepony could only be banished to Tartarus with powerful magic, after all, and you suddenly aren't a different being when you go to sleep either." "I'm sorry, 'somepony?' " Danny lightly mocks. "Yes, anyway do you know anything about it or not?" Starlight tries staying composed. He still snickers before answering, "Eh? Those parasites are everywhere but I never saw that big one before. They scare easily from bright light if there's only a few of 'em. My advice, though, is hide from any swarms you see, they have strength in numbers. As for 'dream body,' I have no clue what you're on about." "Got it." Startlight starts turning over thoughts in her mind quietly, yet at the next turn on the stairs an abrupt plume of smoke startles her. "That happens," Danny comments casually, "you know, if you need a place to stay and hide I got a place a little ways away. At least until you calm down, anyway." Starlight agrees while still catching the patronizing tone in his offer. Maybe levitating him around in circles would teach him for being so condescending...Well, no not now. Maybe later. Author's Note I'm hoping to give enough background to be engaging but not distract from the flow of dialogue between the characters. And more of Starlight's magical issues being addressed? Should it be emphasized more here or gradually before the trail-blazing chapters? Demurring #1The whole of Tartarus is cavernous. From high up near that hillside cave, Starlight could see a few stalactites whose points were l;ow enough to see through the mist. And now, from the bottom, all she can see looking up is a haze being lit from above by an unknown greenish glow. At the bottom of the hill the rocky area around her forms a brownish-black steppe dotted with smaller hills. The echo of raging creatures fighting above can still be heard even down there. Before this moment, Starlight could only walk with Danny in silence as she took in her new surroundings. Tartarus. Tartarus, of course it had to be Tartarus! Okay breathe Starlight, it's not a great situation but you are alive. The girls are sure to notice something's up and, I don't know...help in time? she presses herself to think positively. However, she has to get back on track and she needs more answers before having a meltdown. "So..." she clears her throat, "Is this place much farther?" she asks. Danny mumbles something unintelligible, tinkering with the metal switches on his arm. He walks as if on autopilot and hardly watches his step. Think positive, positive. a reminder that feels forced every step of the way in the hellish rubble. "I know we're both busy, having important things to do in the morning and all. At least I do. All I need to know is if you might know a way out of here? Maybe a path? Or a ladder? Anything?" she asks loudly yet nicely. She strains to maintain the 'friendly pony' demeanor hearing the sulfuric shrieks of the damned all around. Missing her step, she slides and stumbles over a loose slate rock. When red hot angry magic seems ready to fizzle out of her horn she catches an interesting discovery. Is this what that, I don't understand. she thinks surprised. Holding her hooves over the upturned slate, she sees a faint blueish aura around them. The touch of the stone leaves her with an odd feeling at the back of her mind. Seeing this strange sight on top of that turns her stomach. She races ahead and blocks Danny's way suddenly. "Listen to me, there is only so much silence a pony can take before she lashes out." she demands, "You think you're helping in some way, but you most certainly are not! There's something that you're not telling me! The least you can do is say something!" The smile is gone and so too is the patient look in her eyes. She glares at him a moment, pressure and panic setting in all at once. Danny uncovers his ears and rubs the ridge of his nose. "You can't blame me really, you don't want to hear 'there is no way out' from me, because anybody else you ask is going to tell you that." his voice is raspy, "Another thing, I don't want to think of the moment a gargoyle carries you off to be mince meat, so I'm not. If you're real, you'll probably end up being somebody's snack. That's ALL I know about this place, that and a little silence goes a LONG WAY." he finishes. His stern, raised up eyebrows meet against Starlight's rage face. Both break off the burst of hostility soon enough and Starlight sighs dejectedly. "Sorry. I'm not feeling that great, not that that should be an excuse." Danny apologizes. "I'm so sorry too, all I want is to go home. I've only ever read about Tartarus before and it was terrifying enough on paper, please don't take that the wrong way." she speaks meekly, ears down and eyes half closed. She feels at any moment her whole body could shake in weakness, or that her horn could fall off from uselessness, or that she will only grow more emotional and stop trying to escape. Like a storm building on the horizon she feels she can already see hopelessness creeping in. "Never thought I'd see an adorable beastie so sad. Let's keep moving and say we're square on who understands what? Okay?" Danny groans. Starlight puts on a little smile, an agreeable happy face, to avoid sturring up more frustration and arguing. Please let this end, let me wake up and forget this whole thing. She has enough weighing her down as it stands. After a while of quiet between the two, a little building huddled under a cliff face appears over a musty knoll. It is a sturdy looking house with a strong wooden frame and large squares of sheet metal patching the holes. In this nook of rock and bubbling slime pools, the sounds of fighting and geysers is all but banished to the distant hills. Danny suddenly sidesteps and curses under his breath. "What?" Starlight stands ready, yet she sees nothing close to them at all. Danny brushes dust off his sleeves, "Don't mind that bastard, he thinks he's so tough bumping into me like that." he scowls, "If he's got a problem my arm cannon can answer it, prick." Starlight scans all around even up above them and still finds no one. Great...That isn't off-putting, only a whatever he is hallucinating. This gets better and better. she gives a quick laugh to offset her discomfort and pushes forward. Each boiling slime pool they pass emits a different bio-luminescent glow from yellow to magenta to orange. The closest one to the iron sides of the building reflects a reddish shine. From outside, Starlight can hear an argument in-between a steady rhythmic banging of metal against metal. Danny scratches at the side of his head with his metal arm and walks through the thick cloth door in a huff. Starlight swiftly follows having no time for hesitation. "One pint!" a massive brown minotaur bellows. The roaring voice sends shivers down her spine. Across from the minotaur sitting on half of a barrel is a surly looking grey satyr. "Five ounces, no more nor less!" the satyr slurs. The minotaur grabs the smaller satyr by the scruff. Starlight wisely runs to duck behind a stack of barrels, seeing the satyr thrown with a crack against the wall. "No pint! None!" the satyr cries. Her eyes follow the two shouting beasts as they make their angry exit. "What was that about?" Starlight asks before realizing Danny isn't in the room, "Hey! Where?" She sighs and gives up on wasting more time on that thought. He's probably around somewhere, I'll try my luck with someone else. Gazing around, she walks up to the last creature left in the room cloaked in a tattered grey sheet. "Pardon me," she begins nicely, "I don't mean to bother you, but I could really use your help. Do you know anyway out of this place, Tartarus I mean?" She waits a few minutes for an answer and taps the thing gently. "Um, excuse me? Are you alright?" she asks. It gives a pitiful cough and waves her away with a sharp clawed paw. "Please, anything you know at all would help me so much. There has to be a way out, right?" The mysterious creature gives her a shove and curls up closer to the wall. Ugh NEVERMIND!! Starlight storms away, Now what? She explores the dank interior and carefully makes her way up a rotting wooden staircase. The open window on the other side of the room blows in a foul smelling breeze. "Excuse me," Starlight gains the attention of a sleepy ram near the stairs, "can you help me?" "Piss off, not in the mood." the ram spits at her. She stares daggers at him and whips her tail in his face as she walks past. "This is," a voice speaks from a doorway near her, " a magic wicked for sure." Starlight turns and beholds a mangy, thin jackalope standing on its hand legs, paws resting on the door frame. Most of its grey-blue fur is in frayed patches, its antlers chewed and bleached white, and its eyes glazed but steady. Starlight's ears flatten and her legs ready to run from the unhinged rabbit. "Eight bells ring - the dog slumbers and the spiders cozy in their holes. The snapping blooms and pride's trap ahead of you." the finicky jackalope tell her, "One way to those gates true." "Wait," Starlight asks surprised, "do you know the way out?" She relaxes a little but keeps her distance. "The strong wings for you, human to you true 'nuff. He be a pony's chance in hell for home," the jackalope lands with a thud onto the floor and asks sweetly, "if by chance freedom grant you to me?" Starlight's face says it all. He, or she I can't tell, wants to come along? Gross, but I CAN'T give up that lead if I want out of here, what could be better? she thinks. "We can both get out of Tartarus as long as we help each other." she agrees warily. The jackalope hops closer and coos softly with joy. "Pony and Little Sister depart for blue skies tonight." the jackalope Little Sister say cheerfully. Its voice is far kinder sounding than its haggard appearance. Author's Note I was originally thinking of going with Mei Mei for the jackalope since I based the character on my aunt's funny dog, who is a mix of a Sharpe and a Bulldog. Of course I call her funny because she waddles everywhere and always looks like she has a smile on her face. Though I thought translating Mei Mei to Little Sister to work better in my opinion with this narrative. Demurring #2"Humans faint at heart this world they no depart," Little Sister chimes as she has trouble seeing, "judge their cover, you boil in lava soon." Starlight nervously watches the jackalope at first worried about the unhealthy look then about the poor eyesight. It is clear to her that Little Sister can see a bit, though it's obvious not very far or very well. She keeps her distance as a knot of jackalope fur falls onto the dirty wood floor. Outside, another howling breeze shakes the sheets of metal on the house. The creaking of the old structure inside joins with the banging metal in an unceremonious disharmony. Starlight still prefers it to the frightful Tartarus choir of violence from earlier, one that she cannot avoid forever. "This scent, this mat he lie." Little Sister says pawing at Starlight's hoof to gain her attention. The action involuntarily makes her skin crawl. "Right great!" she moves away slightly. Inside the darkened room Little Sister enters Starlight sees a massive sleeping figure on a thick black mat. She braces herself and quietly enters. Well, its certainly a big thing whatever a 'human' is. Maybe its big enough to scare other monsters away, I hope. She sneaks over tin cans and yellowed glass bottles strewn about the room to Little Sister. At least my magic can do one thing here. she thinks as her glowing horn lights her way. "Is this it?" she whispers before being shushed by her new friend. "Man." Little Sister whispers back. Starlight walks around the large beast to find her nuzzling her way underneath the heavy blanket. She watches on trying to hear what is being said, yet it's too soft for her to make out the words. One of the white antlers pokes out from under the blanket. The giant begins to stir, Starlight's heart races, the aged wooden floor groans under the movement. She freezes. A lumbering, obese dragon in fine furs and jewels stands up stretching and promptly rests again on the mat. Starlight sighs in relief to see Little Sister scramble back out from under the blanket unharmed. "Fortune favor me. Quarter been made." Little Sister smiles. Starlight smiles back as nicely as she can, "Uh, did she agree to help?" she asks politely. Where I come from we call that a dragon, she wants to say but decides against it. However, soon she spies another thing stirring under the blanket. To her confusion, a haggard looking Danny crawls out from under the dragon's wing yawning. "The toiling begins all pieces be paid." Little Sister speaks to him casually while Starlight can't help but be suspicious. "I'm up, I'm up. No idea how long it took to find a place to sleep..." Danny mutters. He pulls at his leg to free it from the dragon's claws. Starlight's nostrils flare. "He told me not 20 minutes ago he had NO IDEA how to get out of Tartarus." Starlight explains. "Lazy human lies easy 'nuff to break as bread to you an' me." Little Sister giggles, cozying up to Danny's normal arm like a cat. He yawns again and his tired eyes soon spot Starlight's glowing horn. "This again. I definitely need more sleep." he feints an agonized tone, "Lil' Mei don't wake me up for, I dunno, a couple hours." Little Sister catches his jacket in her antlers before he can escape back under the blanket. Meanwhile Starlight stews in growing impatience. "What?" he asks. "Eyes be matched in blue. No promise broken this hour, savvy?" Little Sister whines cutely. He simply pats her head. "Would you quit talking in riddles, and I'm not going anywhere if I'm seeing random unicorns for no reason." THWACK! SMACK! Danny reels back from the heavy shoe Starlight throws at his head twice. She only needs her hooves to pick up that, anyway. He at once shakes in anger but stays his hand from the switches on his metal arm. "Oh I'm so sorry, is that too real for you?" she criticizes and lectures, "You can be all satisfied with yourself sleeping the day away here of all places. Or you could join me in the real world, the one where those of us not content in Tartarus do something about it. And I swear by everything Twilight told me is a bad idea, I will find a way to magically banish you to a chaos dimension if you so much as think about lying to me again. Is that extra crystal clear enough for you?" The usual blueish light from her horn distorts to a scathing red. Little Sister preens and thumps her back leg in applause. Starlight, instead of relishing the moment, blows out the horn light and takes charge. "If we're all done here, I'm sure this dragon would be happier without us bickering. The door is this way, human." she flips her mane. I haven't done that in ages. Whew, is it tough cracking down on somepony like that again. Eh, then again, does it count as falling back on bad habits if I need to do it? she worries to herself. "What the hell!" is all Danny can remark. Starlight looks behind her and sees him reluctantly stumble into the hall carrying Little Sister. Even the tone of his yawn sounds annoyed and irritable. The humbling roar of a dragon flying overhead greets Starlight Glimmer and the rest. Little Sister leaps out of Danny's arms and catches up to her on the path through the boiling lava fields. Somehow the abundance of warm light feels comforting despite the raw danger around them. A tiny grouping of floating masks cower and flee at the sharp beam of light from Danny's metal arm. "His an' my tricks are clear. What gift bring you, pony?" Little Sister asks. Her accent is a little hard to understand, but at least she's nice? Starlight reasons. "Do you mean magic tricks? Because well..." Starlight's voice trails off sadly. All of they're ears perk up when a tattered red top hat falls from the sky into a lava pool. Danny gestures up and Starlight catches a glimpse of a terrified black haired red pegasus being fought over by two large, hungry gargoyles. Before a cloud of smoke obscures the scene she clearly sees one of his wings torn off greedily. "Let's pick up the pace." Danny hastily suggests, leading the way down an alternate route. The hat slowly burns and sinks into the purifying lava behind them. Unsettled, Starlight desperately tries to think of anything else to forget that image. The screech of more floating masks ring through the hot smokey air. "An old hare's eye knows it," Little Sister continues, "my old eye sees it true. No curse, still spell sinister indeed." Starlight politely nods though her confusion is very clear. "She's being her vague self as usual." Danny says, "I caught something about magic and curses and eyes? Maybe she's complaining about being an old crone again." "Open them ears! Prey be afoot." Little Sister reacts stubbornly jumping three feet upward. "Uh okay," Starlight quickly interjects, "I, uh, guess you're talking about my unicorn magic? It's something I could show you except...somehow this weird mask creature disabled it. I really don't know how." Little Sister tilts her head in concern. "Those wayward prying eyes carved out ivory bone they are. Split up your soul from an easy sleep, eh? Many fall from such fate." she speaks frankly. Danny freezes in place and scoops her up suddenly. "Hold on. Those creepy masks are made of bones?" he shivers. "Leeches to magic that glut theyself on easy targets." "Easy? If its so easy for these things to attack ponies like this, why are they even in Tartarus to begin with?" Starlight justifiably asks. "No that part makes sense." Danny interrupts Little Sister before she answers. "How?!" That's what I'd like to know! "I'm sure they would leave, but you prancy fancy unicorn don't know about the big time threats down here. I've never been stupid enough to even get close to these things." he explains, "Up on that really tall hill over there, the one with the flat top, are the most lethal beasts here. It's said they crowd up there waiting for an opportunity to escape, if that's even possible. No matter how nasty and creepy those masks are there's no way they could get by, or fight, those huge threats up there." Little Sister grumbles menacingly as she hops down from his arms. "Not without power, energy, and size." she adds. "Yeah sure okay," Danny scoffs, "you know more than anyone that nobody survives on dumb luck, mere cuteness, or intimidation without power to back it up. I have no clue what you think you see, 'cause I can tell when you're exaggerating." A large bubble of lava bursts spraying bits of molten rock on the path. More plumes of green smoke spew forth past the upcoming inclining trail up from the lava pits. "Eyes don't lie." Little Sister pokes him in the leg with her antlers, "magic presence comes down wit' ponies, oft broke asunder all alone. No one solitary bit stands true over a crew." "Magic, bits, have you been to Equestria before?" Starlight can't help but ask. "Where?" Danny asks also. "Marvelous gullible land, oh yes do I miss it so." Little Sister grins. She bounces ahead up onto a smooth, shiny grey stone and scratches herself, another tuft of fur comes off as she does so. "Colors, sweet grass, cherries for days, and jewels aplenty. Flying ponies put that wind at your back. Dust of the earth keep the food coming and the rest easy 'nuff to please. Tis a land for the taking indeed." she reminisces. Starlight giggles at the parts she can understand through the accent. Little Sister stumbles down after her aggrandizing and settles up to Danny eagerly. "In freedom found good life in a pony town." she tells him. He picks her up dutifully and glances over at Starlight. "What did I tell you? She loves making up a good story. You want to carry her for a while? I need my arms free to shoot at parasites and she's too old to be walking the entire way." "Humph such talk!" Little Sister gripes with long ears hanging low. "Sure why not. Hold on a minute let me get a blanket for her to lay on." Starlight holds up her hoof. Okay small blanket, maybe a cool blue with a woolly feel? Let's go with that. she focuses on her magic. After a few seconds, though, she remembers the futility of her attempt. "Oh right...nevermind..." Little Sister is placed gently onto her back and cozies herself into a small curled up ball. "It's just good to think about Equestria, even in a hole like this." Starlight speaks nicely, "Thanks for whatever that's worth for your help. It would have been nice without bribery, if that is why you're here?" Danny mutters something of a response that he doesn't finish as he tinkers again with some metal parts in his messenger bag. Author's Note Fully updated now. Open for critiquing on any of the chapters, tbh.
Descent #1Weightless. How Starlight hates these endless falling dreams. There are no stars, lights, or floating lanterns around her like the last time nor any tenseness and dread. The expanse around her is as blank as her boredom with it all. She wonders if it is weird to find her own dream tireless and predictable. Princess Luna suggested clearing my mind before bed to avoid bad dreams, I'm not sure this is what she had in mind. Is it possible to fall asleep in your own dream? Her horn lights up and a pink teacup and saucer appears before her face full of pure espresso. Honestly, how hard could Twilight's research paper be that she needs EVERYPONY'S help? Oh how she enjoys making new friendship lessons 'fun,' I'm worrying over nothing. Right? When she tries to take a sip from the cup a series of brown bubbles sprout from it and change into spinning ribbons. Starlight can only sigh and toss the teacup up to see what happens to it too. To her amusement, it inflates rapidly, flashing brilliant colors, squeaking loudly as it transforms into a kaleidoscopic painting. Ugh. That's the last time I eat ice cream and yogurt before bed, still at least something is happening now. A smile graces her face and she throws up the saucer like a frisbee. It stops mid-air still spinning and showers everything below it in stars. The whole area begins to brighten more as Starlight laughs. She sets her mind to something else when an awful feeling creeps up on her slowly and lingers uneasily long. A sour, chilling nausea weighing thick on both her shoulders until she forces herself to turn toward what she believes to be the assailant. A sweeping glare blinds her and the feeling of falling at once stops. When Starlight opens her eyes, she sees dimly lit cave walls around her with a light source coming from a small opening at the top. "Bewildered, lonely little unicorn." a strange voice crones. Starlight's ears perk up and she comes face to face with a twisted looking floating mask. The face carved on it curls slightly on either side into asymmetrical patterns as if the artist's steady strokes turned violent and unstable at the ends. "Goody, because nothing about this shouts 'creepy' at all. Has to be that ice cream." Starlight shrugs it off. The floating mask careens around and up along the dry cave walls erratically. "Oh so small, so energetic little thing. Do you know me?" the mask asks her. "I'm sure I read about repressed memories somewhere..." Starlight mutters. "Call me Needling Shivers, if you please, and give me your energy." the mask speaks frankly, "Or you will never go home, nothing simpler than that." It kicks up dust with each pass close to the ground. "It figures, you know what Needy Simpleton I'd rather go back to that dull falling dream than stay in this one. You're weird and all but I've seen worse, trust me." Starlight begins to lecture, "And you know what else? I got over my issues with taking magic a LONG time ago, so whatever you represent is way behind. I'm hoping I'm not interrupting Princess Luna whenever whatever this all is starts trying harder to be scary." The mask Needling Shivers presses hard against her snout in bitter resentment. "Ooo look at me I'm a special snowflake that puts down other's hard work. Well you aren't, smart aleck." Shivers sneers. Starlight turns her back on the entity and starts walking away indignantly. "Go ahead. There's only one way out, unicorn. I pulled you from that precious dream and only I can put you back." Shivers follows her too close for comfort. Each step on the rock floor echoes as the Shivers mask lets the silence lay heavy on Starlight's mind. At last she can see an exit and races toward it. She beholds a wide expanse of stone and fire, rolling jagged hills that emit a sickly green smoke, and screeching flying monsters diving at each other. She stands petrified. "Behold unicorn! The soft world you know is gone! Tartarus is your new home!" Shivers shouts gleefully. Starlight whips around in a mix of angry shock. "What're you trying to pull?" she demands. "Simple, submit your energy to me and you can go home. If not you can rot here." Shivers crows. Two snapping ghouls claw at each other over head and fly away as quickly as they came. Starlight growls irritated. "Princess Luna!" she calls out. Shivers grins happily too close to her face. "Quit it! Princess Luna!" Starlight backs up into a crumbling wall, a nearby greenish glow lighting her worried expression. "This place is no dream, you are trapped little pony until I say so." Roaring over head and ambience suited to the cruelest haunted house in Equestria ring in her ears. The rubble beneath her hooves and the off-putting smells all around tell Starlight plainly enough. This is Tartarus. Author's Note I'm really hoping that the hook before things go south isn't too clumsy.
Descent #2"How did you do this?! How?!" Starlight demands louder and more infuriated. "Do you notice something unusual? Something that doesn't feel right? It's all you, of course. I pulled you from your dreaming body." Shivers details laughing. "That doesn't make sense! If you have that kind of magic, why do you even want mine in the first place?!" "Even if I told you, you'll have no use for that knowledge once I have what I want." Shivers draws closer, "Now give me that power." Starlight tries to teleport away to get a better vantage point to shoot at the mask, but her magic falters on her. Her horn only glows in vain. "Without that body, all your energy is good for is giving it to me." the entity gloats. To Starlight's surprise, many smaller, translucent masks appear behind Needling Shivers and tilt back and forth hypnotically. She struggles to keep her eyes away from the luring motion. All of them cut off her escape. Then the smaller faces groan in agony and flee scattering like terrified birds. A sharp, puncturing light shines behind Shivers who also shouts in a horrifying voice and flies swiftly away. Starlight ducks as it makes its own escape. Opening her eyes, she sees standing there a tall biped in a dusty, rust colored jacket, green brown cargo pants, and heavy working boots. The odd, messy, light red-violet hair is the least strange thing about him. The purifying light, coming out of half of his arm made of metal, scares away the last resilient ghostly mask easily. "Hate those things." the creature says annoyed, "What were they attacking now?" His immediately confused eyes meet Starlight's as she completely stands up. What in the world? "Uh hi. Thank you so much," she nervously introduces herself, "my name is Starlight Glimmer. You, uh, wouldn't happen to know a way out, would you?" The biped closes a panel on his metal arm that shuts off the light at the end and stares at her puzzled. "Is that a no?" she asks. Not even flying vermin loudly chasing each other passing by distract the two in this moment. He shakes his head quickly and knocks at the side of his head with the end of the cylindrical metal arm. "I don't care if I'm being rude but are you a talking purple unicorn? Or am I crazy?" he asks staring confused. A shrieking hiss comes from a close geyser precluding a spout of thick green smoke. Super, where's Fluttershy when you need her to teach him a thing or two. "Yeah, trust me where I come from unicorns are everywhere. I hope that's your only burning question, because there are definitely bigger things going on right now." Starlight speaks as politely as possible through startled mixed emotions. With his free hand the biped waves in front of his own face. "Right..." Starlight continues, "I really am thankful for what you did, and I can only hope that asking a small favor, well, wouldn't be asking too much?" In the distance a low rumble can be heard through the grey mist. "Uh huh, I'll tick this under maybe crazy," he concludes," heaven knows I've seen worse down here. Unicorns, honestly. If that's real, who knows what else is." As he starts walking away Starlight catches up to him quickly. Realizing her magic is defunct, she needs a plan and fast. The winding narrow stone steps down barely feel real under her hooves. What other choice do I have. If Twilight and her friends were here, they'd be befriending weird things like this before brunch. And it seems to have magic that works! "I guess I should start over then. My name is Starlight Glimmer and I'd like to know the name of the, uh, well, you that saved me." she stammers trying to find what to call the odd creature. She flashes another friendly awkward smile when he looks at her with an uncomfortable expression. "Okay...why don't you just call me Danny." he shrugs. "Also, is that your real name? Like on your birth certificate, if you have one anyway." "Yes. Why? No nevermind," she brushes it off, "Anyway," she continues confidently, "so Danny, can you tell me what's going on? I mean that weird mask thing said it separated me from my dreaming body which, if you ask me, makes no sense. Somepony could only be banished to Tartarus with powerful magic, after all, and you suddenly aren't a different being when you go to sleep either." "I'm sorry, 'somepony?' " Danny lightly mocks. "Yes, anyway do you know anything about it or not?" Starlight tries staying composed. He still snickers before answering, "Eh? Those parasites are everywhere but I never saw that big one before. They scare easily from bright light if there's only a few of 'em. My advice, though, is hide from any swarms you see, they have strength in numbers. As for 'dream body,' I have no clue what you're on about." "Got it." Startlight starts turning over thoughts in her mind quietly, yet at the next turn on the stairs an abrupt plume of smoke startles her. "That happens," Danny comments casually, "you know, if you need a place to stay and hide I got a place a little ways away. At least until you calm down, anyway." Starlight agrees while still catching the patronizing tone in his offer. Maybe levitating him around in circles would teach him for being so condescending...Well, no not now. Maybe later. Author's Note I'm hoping to give enough background to be engaging but not distract from the flow of dialogue between the characters. And more of Starlight's magical issues being addressed? Should it be emphasized more here or gradually before the trail-blazing chapters?
Demurring #1The whole of Tartarus is cavernous. From high up near that hillside cave, Starlight could see a few stalactites whose points were l;ow enough to see through the mist. And now, from the bottom, all she can see looking up is a haze being lit from above by an unknown greenish glow. At the bottom of the hill the rocky area around her forms a brownish-black steppe dotted with smaller hills. The echo of raging creatures fighting above can still be heard even down there. Before this moment, Starlight could only walk with Danny in silence as she took in her new surroundings. Tartarus. Tartarus, of course it had to be Tartarus! Okay breathe Starlight, it's not a great situation but you are alive. The girls are sure to notice something's up and, I don't know...help in time? she presses herself to think positively. However, she has to get back on track and she needs more answers before having a meltdown. "So..." she clears her throat, "Is this place much farther?" she asks. Danny mumbles something unintelligible, tinkering with the metal switches on his arm. He walks as if on autopilot and hardly watches his step. Think positive, positive. a reminder that feels forced every step of the way in the hellish rubble. "I know we're both busy, having important things to do in the morning and all. At least I do. All I need to know is if you might know a way out of here? Maybe a path? Or a ladder? Anything?" she asks loudly yet nicely. She strains to maintain the 'friendly pony' demeanor hearing the sulfuric shrieks of the damned all around. Missing her step, she slides and stumbles over a loose slate rock. When red hot angry magic seems ready to fizzle out of her horn she catches an interesting discovery. Is this what that, I don't understand. she thinks surprised. Holding her hooves over the upturned slate, she sees a faint blueish aura around them. The touch of the stone leaves her with an odd feeling at the back of her mind. Seeing this strange sight on top of that turns her stomach. She races ahead and blocks Danny's way suddenly. "Listen to me, there is only so much silence a pony can take before she lashes out." she demands, "You think you're helping in some way, but you most certainly are not! There's something that you're not telling me! The least you can do is say something!" The smile is gone and so too is the patient look in her eyes. She glares at him a moment, pressure and panic setting in all at once. Danny uncovers his ears and rubs the ridge of his nose. "You can't blame me really, you don't want to hear 'there is no way out' from me, because anybody else you ask is going to tell you that." his voice is raspy, "Another thing, I don't want to think of the moment a gargoyle carries you off to be mince meat, so I'm not. If you're real, you'll probably end up being somebody's snack. That's ALL I know about this place, that and a little silence goes a LONG WAY." he finishes. His stern, raised up eyebrows meet against Starlight's rage face. Both break off the burst of hostility soon enough and Starlight sighs dejectedly. "Sorry. I'm not feeling that great, not that that should be an excuse." Danny apologizes. "I'm so sorry too, all I want is to go home. I've only ever read about Tartarus before and it was terrifying enough on paper, please don't take that the wrong way." she speaks meekly, ears down and eyes half closed. She feels at any moment her whole body could shake in weakness, or that her horn could fall off from uselessness, or that she will only grow more emotional and stop trying to escape. Like a storm building on the horizon she feels she can already see hopelessness creeping in. "Never thought I'd see an adorable beastie so sad. Let's keep moving and say we're square on who understands what? Okay?" Danny groans. Starlight puts on a little smile, an agreeable happy face, to avoid sturring up more frustration and arguing. Please let this end, let me wake up and forget this whole thing. She has enough weighing her down as it stands. After a while of quiet between the two, a little building huddled under a cliff face appears over a musty knoll. It is a sturdy looking house with a strong wooden frame and large squares of sheet metal patching the holes. In this nook of rock and bubbling slime pools, the sounds of fighting and geysers is all but banished to the distant hills. Danny suddenly sidesteps and curses under his breath. "What?" Starlight stands ready, yet she sees nothing close to them at all. Danny brushes dust off his sleeves, "Don't mind that bastard, he thinks he's so tough bumping into me like that." he scowls, "If he's got a problem my arm cannon can answer it, prick." Starlight scans all around even up above them and still finds no one. Great...That isn't off-putting, only a whatever he is hallucinating. This gets better and better. she gives a quick laugh to offset her discomfort and pushes forward. Each boiling slime pool they pass emits a different bio-luminescent glow from yellow to magenta to orange. The closest one to the iron sides of the building reflects a reddish shine. From outside, Starlight can hear an argument in-between a steady rhythmic banging of metal against metal. Danny scratches at the side of his head with his metal arm and walks through the thick cloth door in a huff. Starlight swiftly follows having no time for hesitation. "One pint!" a massive brown minotaur bellows. The roaring voice sends shivers down her spine. Across from the minotaur sitting on half of a barrel is a surly looking grey satyr. "Five ounces, no more nor less!" the satyr slurs. The minotaur grabs the smaller satyr by the scruff. Starlight wisely runs to duck behind a stack of barrels, seeing the satyr thrown with a crack against the wall. "No pint! None!" the satyr cries. Her eyes follow the two shouting beasts as they make their angry exit. "What was that about?" Starlight asks before realizing Danny isn't in the room, "Hey! Where?" She sighs and gives up on wasting more time on that thought. He's probably around somewhere, I'll try my luck with someone else. Gazing around, she walks up to the last creature left in the room cloaked in a tattered grey sheet. "Pardon me," she begins nicely, "I don't mean to bother you, but I could really use your help. Do you know anyway out of this place, Tartarus I mean?" She waits a few minutes for an answer and taps the thing gently. "Um, excuse me? Are you alright?" she asks. It gives a pitiful cough and waves her away with a sharp clawed paw. "Please, anything you know at all would help me so much. There has to be a way out, right?" The mysterious creature gives her a shove and curls up closer to the wall. Ugh NEVERMIND!! Starlight storms away, Now what? She explores the dank interior and carefully makes her way up a rotting wooden staircase. The open window on the other side of the room blows in a foul smelling breeze. "Excuse me," Starlight gains the attention of a sleepy ram near the stairs, "can you help me?" "Piss off, not in the mood." the ram spits at her. She stares daggers at him and whips her tail in his face as she walks past. "This is," a voice speaks from a doorway near her, " a magic wicked for sure." Starlight turns and beholds a mangy, thin jackalope standing on its hand legs, paws resting on the door frame. Most of its grey-blue fur is in frayed patches, its antlers chewed and bleached white, and its eyes glazed but steady. Starlight's ears flatten and her legs ready to run from the unhinged rabbit. "Eight bells ring - the dog slumbers and the spiders cozy in their holes. The snapping blooms and pride's trap ahead of you." the finicky jackalope tell her, "One way to those gates true." "Wait," Starlight asks surprised, "do you know the way out?" She relaxes a little but keeps her distance. "The strong wings for you, human to you true 'nuff. He be a pony's chance in hell for home," the jackalope lands with a thud onto the floor and asks sweetly, "if by chance freedom grant you to me?" Starlight's face says it all. He, or she I can't tell, wants to come along? Gross, but I CAN'T give up that lead if I want out of here, what could be better? she thinks. "We can both get out of Tartarus as long as we help each other." she agrees warily. The jackalope hops closer and coos softly with joy. "Pony and Little Sister depart for blue skies tonight." the jackalope Little Sister say cheerfully. Its voice is far kinder sounding than its haggard appearance. Author's Note I was originally thinking of going with Mei Mei for the jackalope since I based the character on my aunt's funny dog, who is a mix of a Sharpe and a Bulldog. Of course I call her funny because she waddles everywhere and always looks like she has a smile on her face. Though I thought translating Mei Mei to Little Sister to work better in my opinion with this narrative.
Demurring #2"Humans faint at heart this world they no depart," Little Sister chimes as she has trouble seeing, "judge their cover, you boil in lava soon." Starlight nervously watches the jackalope at first worried about the unhealthy look then about the poor eyesight. It is clear to her that Little Sister can see a bit, though it's obvious not very far or very well. She keeps her distance as a knot of jackalope fur falls onto the dirty wood floor. Outside, another howling breeze shakes the sheets of metal on the house. The creaking of the old structure inside joins with the banging metal in an unceremonious disharmony. Starlight still prefers it to the frightful Tartarus choir of violence from earlier, one that she cannot avoid forever. "This scent, this mat he lie." Little Sister says pawing at Starlight's hoof to gain her attention. The action involuntarily makes her skin crawl. "Right great!" she moves away slightly. Inside the darkened room Little Sister enters Starlight sees a massive sleeping figure on a thick black mat. She braces herself and quietly enters. Well, its certainly a big thing whatever a 'human' is. Maybe its big enough to scare other monsters away, I hope. She sneaks over tin cans and yellowed glass bottles strewn about the room to Little Sister. At least my magic can do one thing here. she thinks as her glowing horn lights her way. "Is this it?" she whispers before being shushed by her new friend. "Man." Little Sister whispers back. Starlight walks around the large beast to find her nuzzling her way underneath the heavy blanket. She watches on trying to hear what is being said, yet it's too soft for her to make out the words. One of the white antlers pokes out from under the blanket. The giant begins to stir, Starlight's heart races, the aged wooden floor groans under the movement. She freezes. A lumbering, obese dragon in fine furs and jewels stands up stretching and promptly rests again on the mat. Starlight sighs in relief to see Little Sister scramble back out from under the blanket unharmed. "Fortune favor me. Quarter been made." Little Sister smiles. Starlight smiles back as nicely as she can, "Uh, did she agree to help?" she asks politely. Where I come from we call that a dragon, she wants to say but decides against it. However, soon she spies another thing stirring under the blanket. To her confusion, a haggard looking Danny crawls out from under the dragon's wing yawning. "The toiling begins all pieces be paid." Little Sister speaks to him casually while Starlight can't help but be suspicious. "I'm up, I'm up. No idea how long it took to find a place to sleep..." Danny mutters. He pulls at his leg to free it from the dragon's claws. Starlight's nostrils flare. "He told me not 20 minutes ago he had NO IDEA how to get out of Tartarus." Starlight explains. "Lazy human lies easy 'nuff to break as bread to you an' me." Little Sister giggles, cozying up to Danny's normal arm like a cat. He yawns again and his tired eyes soon spot Starlight's glowing horn. "This again. I definitely need more sleep." he feints an agonized tone, "Lil' Mei don't wake me up for, I dunno, a couple hours." Little Sister catches his jacket in her antlers before he can escape back under the blanket. Meanwhile Starlight stews in growing impatience. "What?" he asks. "Eyes be matched in blue. No promise broken this hour, savvy?" Little Sister whines cutely. He simply pats her head. "Would you quit talking in riddles, and I'm not going anywhere if I'm seeing random unicorns for no reason." THWACK! SMACK! Danny reels back from the heavy shoe Starlight throws at his head twice. She only needs her hooves to pick up that, anyway. He at once shakes in anger but stays his hand from the switches on his metal arm. "Oh I'm so sorry, is that too real for you?" she criticizes and lectures, "You can be all satisfied with yourself sleeping the day away here of all places. Or you could join me in the real world, the one where those of us not content in Tartarus do something about it. And I swear by everything Twilight told me is a bad idea, I will find a way to magically banish you to a chaos dimension if you so much as think about lying to me again. Is that extra crystal clear enough for you?" The usual blueish light from her horn distorts to a scathing red. Little Sister preens and thumps her back leg in applause. Starlight, instead of relishing the moment, blows out the horn light and takes charge. "If we're all done here, I'm sure this dragon would be happier without us bickering. The door is this way, human." she flips her mane. I haven't done that in ages. Whew, is it tough cracking down on somepony like that again. Eh, then again, does it count as falling back on bad habits if I need to do it? she worries to herself. "What the hell!" is all Danny can remark. Starlight looks behind her and sees him reluctantly stumble into the hall carrying Little Sister. Even the tone of his yawn sounds annoyed and irritable. The humbling roar of a dragon flying overhead greets Starlight Glimmer and the rest. Little Sister leaps out of Danny's arms and catches up to her on the path through the boiling lava fields. Somehow the abundance of warm light feels comforting despite the raw danger around them. A tiny grouping of floating masks cower and flee at the sharp beam of light from Danny's metal arm. "His an' my tricks are clear. What gift bring you, pony?" Little Sister asks. Her accent is a little hard to understand, but at least she's nice? Starlight reasons. "Do you mean magic tricks? Because well..." Starlight's voice trails off sadly. All of they're ears perk up when a tattered red top hat falls from the sky into a lava pool. Danny gestures up and Starlight catches a glimpse of a terrified black haired red pegasus being fought over by two large, hungry gargoyles. Before a cloud of smoke obscures the scene she clearly sees one of his wings torn off greedily. "Let's pick up the pace." Danny hastily suggests, leading the way down an alternate route. The hat slowly burns and sinks into the purifying lava behind them. Unsettled, Starlight desperately tries to think of anything else to forget that image. The screech of more floating masks ring through the hot smokey air. "An old hare's eye knows it," Little Sister continues, "my old eye sees it true. No curse, still spell sinister indeed." Starlight politely nods though her confusion is very clear. "She's being her vague self as usual." Danny says, "I caught something about magic and curses and eyes? Maybe she's complaining about being an old crone again." "Open them ears! Prey be afoot." Little Sister reacts stubbornly jumping three feet upward. "Uh okay," Starlight quickly interjects, "I, uh, guess you're talking about my unicorn magic? It's something I could show you except...somehow this weird mask creature disabled it. I really don't know how." Little Sister tilts her head in concern. "Those wayward prying eyes carved out ivory bone they are. Split up your soul from an easy sleep, eh? Many fall from such fate." she speaks frankly. Danny freezes in place and scoops her up suddenly. "Hold on. Those creepy masks are made of bones?" he shivers. "Leeches to magic that glut theyself on easy targets." "Easy? If its so easy for these things to attack ponies like this, why are they even in Tartarus to begin with?" Starlight justifiably asks. "No that part makes sense." Danny interrupts Little Sister before she answers. "How?!" That's what I'd like to know! "I'm sure they would leave, but you prancy fancy unicorn don't know about the big time threats down here. I've never been stupid enough to even get close to these things." he explains, "Up on that really tall hill over there, the one with the flat top, are the most lethal beasts here. It's said they crowd up there waiting for an opportunity to escape, if that's even possible. No matter how nasty and creepy those masks are there's no way they could get by, or fight, those huge threats up there." Little Sister grumbles menacingly as she hops down from his arms. "Not without power, energy, and size." she adds. "Yeah sure okay," Danny scoffs, "you know more than anyone that nobody survives on dumb luck, mere cuteness, or intimidation without power to back it up. I have no clue what you think you see, 'cause I can tell when you're exaggerating." A large bubble of lava bursts spraying bits of molten rock on the path. More plumes of green smoke spew forth past the upcoming inclining trail up from the lava pits. "Eyes don't lie." Little Sister pokes him in the leg with her antlers, "magic presence comes down wit' ponies, oft broke asunder all alone. No one solitary bit stands true over a crew." "Magic, bits, have you been to Equestria before?" Starlight can't help but ask. "Where?" Danny asks also. "Marvelous gullible land, oh yes do I miss it so." Little Sister grins. She bounces ahead up onto a smooth, shiny grey stone and scratches herself, another tuft of fur comes off as she does so. "Colors, sweet grass, cherries for days, and jewels aplenty. Flying ponies put that wind at your back. Dust of the earth keep the food coming and the rest easy 'nuff to please. Tis a land for the taking indeed." she reminisces. Starlight giggles at the parts she can understand through the accent. Little Sister stumbles down after her aggrandizing and settles up to Danny eagerly. "In freedom found good life in a pony town." she tells him. He picks her up dutifully and glances over at Starlight. "What did I tell you? She loves making up a good story. You want to carry her for a while? I need my arms free to shoot at parasites and she's too old to be walking the entire way." "Humph such talk!" Little Sister gripes with long ears hanging low. "Sure why not. Hold on a minute let me get a blanket for her to lay on." Starlight holds up her hoof. Okay small blanket, maybe a cool blue with a woolly feel? Let's go with that. she focuses on her magic. After a few seconds, though, she remembers the futility of her attempt. "Oh right...nevermind..." Little Sister is placed gently onto her back and cozies herself into a small curled up ball. "It's just good to think about Equestria, even in a hole like this." Starlight speaks nicely, "Thanks for whatever that's worth for your help. It would have been nice without bribery, if that is why you're here?" Danny mutters something of a response that he doesn't finish as he tinkers again with some metal parts in his messenger bag. Author's Note Fully updated now. Open for critiquing on any of the chapters, tbh.
