The 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.