Sunset groaned as she looked at the bookshelves around her in the void space “I have read all of these books a hundred bloody times. Discord you better have not been lying to…” Sunset gasped as she was pulled out of the void, she was floating over a strange set of golden flowers the spiritual form of her body glowing red around a soul with a hint of determination left in it as a white soul rested safely inside.

Sunset frowned as she saw a purple skinned human wearing glasses laying on the same golden flowers she fell on when she first arrived in the ruins, her tricoloured hair of sapphire blue, moderate violet and brilliant rose that was tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a light blue shirt with a circuit board on it as well as a pair of dark blue jeans, Sunset tried to kick the girl to wake her up “Get up you stupid human!”

Sunset’s leg actually passed through the girl, Sunset grimaced “Shit, this form can’t touch anything and even worse she can’t hear me!”

The girl groaned as she awoke “Where am I?” She grimaced as she looked down at a small disk which was glowing “I designed you to detect magic, so why are we in a deep ditch in a random mountain.”

Sunset rolled her eyes at the human “Oh magic’s down here alright. Your stupid little gizmo is not lying to you.”

The girl stumbled to her feet and walked into the next room. Sunset frowned as she was pulled along by the human girl only for a lone purple flower to be sitting in the middle of an empty green patch. The girl approached the flower until the flower turned around, Sunset raised an eyebrow “I’ve never seen a living flower before.”

The girl jumped back “What are you?”

The flower smiled as the girl’s red determination soul ended up in a black box with a white outline, her HP reading 20/20 as her LV read 1, Sunset facepalmed “Are you really that naive?! Even I with no soul experience I knew how to keep my soul out of a battle box!”

The flower then summoned a small petal as it bobbed up and down “My name is Lily, and these are friendliness pellets. They gift you with the power of friendliness.”

Sunset sighed as the girl’s soul approached the petal “How are you this naive?”

The girl screamed as her HP dropped to 1/20. Lily’s face turned dark as she laughed madly “There is only one rule in the underground, Kill or Be Killed!”

Several more petals formed around slowly approaching the girl’s soul until suddenly they vanished before a blast of blue magic sent the purple flower flying away. Soon as almost pitch black pony with teal slitted eyes smiled at the girl “My name is Nightmare Moon, Guardian of the Ruins.”

The girl backed away from the figure as she saw the fangs, Sunset eyes widened as she recognised the kindness of the mare in front of them. She began to sob ”I’m sorry Luna, you’re like this because of me.”

Nightmare Moon smiled “I won’t hurt you I promise.”

The girl approached her timidly “Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” Sunset’s sobbing began to lessen as Nightmare Moon escorted Twilight through the ruins over various traps by carrying the human on her back while making sure none of the Thestrals got any ideas.

Sunset blinked as they approached a dummy “What now?”

Nightmare Moon as if hearing Sunset’s question smiled “I’m teaching you how to handle encounters. If you show ponies you mean them no harm, they will leave you alone. Try it on this dummy.”

Twilight looks around in confusion as her soul appears in a battle box, four icons next to her HP and LV. Attack, Act, Item and Mercy, she raised an eyebrow as she noticed her red soul rested on the attack button. She moved it over to the act command and when she forced her will into the command a few commands came up.

Sunset rolled her eyes as Twilight talked to the dummy, soon Twilight spared the dummy. Twilight smiled at Nightmare Moon excitedly “I did it.”

Nightmare Moon nodded with a warm smile “You did, now I have something to give you” she levitated a small phone into the girl’s hands “Contact me if you need to.”

They enter a small hallway when Luna smiles “I have to go on ahead and set up something. I need you to stay here.”

Twilight frowned as she sat there for twenty minutes with no one coming, Sunset grimaced “Are we just going to sit here all day?”

Twilight sighed as she got up “I might as well go ahead, I’m getting bored of sitting here.” After sparing several thestrals and completing various puzzles she arrived at Nightmare Moon’s home.

Sunset frowned “I don’t remember there being that many puzzles here.”

Twilight picked up her phone as she received a call “Twilight, I’m coming to meet with you….” Twilight walked over to her with a smile.

Nightmare Moon sighed “I told you to wait for me.” She shook her head and smiled “I’ll discuss that later, for now let me show you to the room I set up for you.”

Twilight nods with a smile as she she entered the house, the walls were made of painted dark blue wood. Twilight was guided through a hallway into a plain room with a simple bed, Twilight got on the bed and quickly descended into slumber. Sunset meanwhile explored the small building, simple paintings of flowers were on the walls. She saw Nightmare Moon sobbing on a chair, Sunset flew over to see her looking at a picture of herself, Sunset, Celestia and Sunshine smiling. Nightmare Moon tried to dry her tears “I should have adopt you sooner, Sunset I would have been proud to call you my daughter.”

Sunset smiled as drops of soul energy hit the floor “I would have been happy to call you mum, but I was foolish. I believed I could fix everything but it was dumb and it failed.”

Sunset hung around with Nightmare Moon for the next couple of hours watching as she made some pie in a small kitchen with a simple stove as well as a few benchtops. Soon she felt Twilight wake up and floated over to the human her soul was bound to.

Twilight left the room with a single question on her mind, she had a family on the surface and she longed to return home. She approached Nightmare Moon “Where is the exit to the ruins?”

Nightmare Moon stiffened slightly before standing up and headed in a direction “I have to do something, stay here.”

Twilight followed shortly after Nightmare Moon, soon she found Nightmare Moon in the basement in front of a door. Nightmare Moon frowned “I’m going to destroy the exit to the ruins, so you will stay with me safe in the Ruins. If you wish to leave then show me your strength.”

Twilight dodged as several beams of magic, she kept pressing the spare button as she dodged more and more attacks. Nightmare Moon frowned after the fifth time “What are you doing?”

The Alicorn frowned as the child kept sparing them “Fight me or Leave!”

Sunset watched on in awe as Twilight would not be deterred, Nightmare Moon’s slumped as her attacks dissipated “I’m pathetic aren’t I, I can’t even save a single child.”

Twilight gave her a hug “No you’re not” she then smiled as she headed through the door “We may never meet again but I will always remember you.”

Sunset looked sadly as they left Nightmare Moon sobbing behind the door. They frowned as Lily stood there in the centre of an open area “You think you are better than me because you just spared one pony. That attitude will get you killed, I assure you.”

The pair scowled as they exited. They then stormed past by a sleeping yellow pegasus with a pink mane unaware of what awaited them in the future.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the first foray intp the undergorund as whole, prepare to arrive in Snowville.