Luster's Knee Deep in the Dead

Inside a huge, metal cage, an unconscious Queen Twilight is trapped inside it. As soon as she slowly opened up her eyes, she stands up on all fours only to feel the metal floorboards with her hooves. The next thing Twilight knew is that she finds herself hanging 500 feet above the ground. Right above her, Twilight sees that the cage she's in is being held by a chain attached to a metal beam sticking out from a dark,demonic-like tower right behind her. In her horror, Twilight looks around to see a landscape of rocky pathways, massive demonic-like structures, volcanoes, and flowing streams of lava spewing out in a distance. All around her, the purple alicorn sees Lost pony souls and all sorts of flying demons hovering from every angle outside of the cage she is in. The moment they see Queen Twilight wake up from her beauty sleep, they all started laughing at her, humiliating the Alicorn Queen without giving it another thought.

Upon seeing the floating demons gloat at her, Twilight started growling in frustration from the fact that she has been taken by creatures that came from underneath Equestria. After looking further behind the demons and down below her, Twilight just realized that she is now in the Demon Realm. When she tried to use some of her spells to break free from the cage, they didn't do any damage at all. Seeing now that it is useless to use her magic, Twilight couldn't find any other way to escape from her cruel fate. Speaking of fate, Twilight still remembered about the evil, dark voice that spoke to her the moment she first encountered the demons at the palace foyer. Before she couldn't saying anything, a dark, evil entity appeared before Queen Twilight. Through a dimensional window, Twilight sees a shadowy, demonic creature with red eyes and minotaur horns on its head looking straight at her.

"Such an impressive world, is it my dear?!"

"What do you want???" Twilight shouted in anger.

"Everything!!! I was going to capture Princess Celestia and bring her into my domain so that she and I can rule Equestria together."

"Guess what?! Celestia is no longer ruling over Equestria!! She's retired!!"

"I see. It's a shame I won't be seeing Celestia again after she shoved me back into my realm. Though I must say, I didn't think she'd let you ascend the throne in Canterlot years prior, I only heard rumors about it from my collaborators. But since you're in my prison, you can only pray that your fate will be realized here in my world. Furthermore, you still have something that belongs to me, girl!!"

"It's not about that talisman key that one of my guards handed over to me is it?!" Twilight sneered.

"Oh yes it is!! That key is the only thing that can activate the portals allowing my demons to enter the mortal world, not just from your palace, but rather all over Equestria!! When I first faced Celestia, I almost won. That isn't until she used the so-called Elements of Harmony against me. But now that they're all destroyed, along with the Tree that created them, I am finally free from the bars that denied my entry into Equestria. However, I didn't strike just yet because I met three villains from Mount Everhoof who informed me of the situation at hand. So, I took my time in preparing my army to invade Canterlot. Also, I gave those three another opportunity that they couldn't refuse since I did liked the way they despised friendship and harmony as well as I do."

"Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow?!" Twilight gasped, remembering the recent villains that she faced in the past so far. "But how did they......."

"Well, my dear sweet Queenie, it's like this...."

Flashback, 30 years earlier before the attack upon Canterlot......

After Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow retrieved the Bewitching Bell, they found themselves in another blizzard at Mount Everhoof. Even though Cozy was still wearing her winter coat, the demonic centaur and the black Changeling are still freezing their flanks off so they went to a nearby dark cave to rest up before continuing their journey back to Grogar's Lair. Just after Tirek built another fire, illuminating the cave, Chrysalis spotted a strange gateway deep inside the care they're in. Curious, Tirek was the first to approach it. The gateway happens to be an stone-like archway filled with demonic inscriptions written on it. Before they knew it, the entire cave is filled with ancient writings and inscriptions all over the cavernous walls. Just when Chrysalis and Cozy aren't able to understand what any of the inscriptions are saying, Tirek had an idea of where it is heading at. As they listened closely at what Tirek is saying, he makes his speech as he is translating the inscriptions using his own words.

"Below Equestria's realm, lies another dimension filled with horrors beyond a pony's deepest nightmares. It is there that a whole new civilization of creatures are waiting to rise up before their master. To dominate, to conquer, and to enslave!!"

"That might something Sombra would definitely tried to do!!" Tirek thought in excitement before continuing to read the demonic inscriptions.

"In the realm of demons, it is ruled by the most powerful of fiends!!! The mightiest warriors of Hell loom over the horizons of the burning, leaving a trail of endless fire bathing in the world of mortals."

"Wow, Tirek!! Where did you learn how read all of that??" Cozy said curiously.

"Sendak did taught me several lessons over demonic literature and dialects when I was still in his study." Tirek chuckled. "From what those inscriptions say, there may be another opportunity for us to unleash another demonic army, for us to command. Of course, we have find a way to get stronger before facing our old enemies. But we always learned that "winning all the time" won't always be possible even if it seems like we could really do that."

"Oh really??" Chrysalis said slyly. "We may be able to take advantage of this, showing Grogar that we can really conquer Equestria without his guidance; who need him if we were to get another army to command on our own."

"And what about the bell? Are we still going to keep it or hand it to Grogar?" Cozy asked the former Changeling Queen.

"Well still keep the bell. In fact, the demonic army and the bell will both be our ultimate powers to use to conquer all of Equestria." Chrysalis presumed. "But how are we going to make contact with the demons from the dimension they're in??"

"I think I can fix that!!" Tirek smirked as he charged his horns with his fiery magic.

As soon as his horns lit up into a red-orange ball, Tirek fired his magic at the stone archway. When Tirek's magic struck the wall where the archway is at, it opened up a dark-red portal leading to the realm of demons. Out of excitement, the trio started grinning wickedly as they were about to enter the Realm of Demons to see what horrors will exist there. However, before they had a chance to proceed, a squad of imps emerged from the red portal, hissing and screeching. Before the either villains or demons could react, a bellowing voice erupted from within the cave they're all in.

"Hold on my little pets!! I sense great interest in our new guests."

"Who said that??" Cozy and Chrysalis exclaimed in unison.

"I am the ruler of the Demon Realm!! You may call me the Dark Lord!!! I never knew that some creature from the mortal realm would actually open the gateway to my domain. May I ask how and why?"

"That would be me sir!!" Tirek announced, even though he and the other two villains couldn't see his face. "I was once under the guidance of a corrupted centaur advisor that used to live in the homeland that I came from. He taught me lessons about ancient inscriptions and demonology back then. We enjoy being bad in a one many ways. However, since most of us got beaten more than once, I was thinking about coming up with a backup plan if they outnumber us again with their magic and their numbers."

"Well, ever since I was sent back to my domain after I was defeated by Princess Celestia, it was hard for me to invade Equestria again since she used the Elements of Harmony to seal off the gateway leading to this world. However, I felt a strange phenomenon that somehow my gateway is actually opening up once again."

"You're in luck, sir!!" Cozy Glow grinned wickedly. "King Sombra, who used to be with us, destroyed the Elements of Harmony and the Tree of Harmony, thinking that it may decrease the power of Equestria's heroes. We thought for sure they will be defeated under Sombra's hoof. But even that wasn't enough, they already defeated Sombra again. So, we all decided to find another way to get revenge on them but with different plans."

"THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ARE DESTROYED??!!! THIS IS PERFECT!!!" The Dark Lord roared in triumph. "You all have my thanks. So, you might you people be?"

"I am Lord Tirek, these lassies with me are Cozy Glow and Chrysalis; the ex-student of the School of Friendship and the ex-Queen of the Changelings." The demonic centaur said, introducing himself.

"We did tried to arouse our own armies to conquer Equestria not too long ago. But it was thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends that our minions turned against all of us!!" Chrysalis hissed. "What's worse is that Twilight Sparkle is next in line to rule over Equestria with her ultimate ideals of Friendship and Harmony."

"Really now? Well since you and Sombra helped opened the doorway to my realm, I suppose I will reward you all with a desire at your own discretion!!"

"Well in that case, would you excuse us for a moment?!" Tirek grinned as he brought Chrysalis and Cozy Glow close to him.

After a few minutes of discussing their options in silent whispering, Tirek's group disengaged from their private conversation and approached the Dark Lord.

"My lord, we have all wished to grant immortal power in leading another army that will remain loyal to us all the way. We'll even deliver Princess Celestia to you in exchange for your ultimate freedom. Also, if we fall, we would wish for something that will deceive our enemies when they realized it is too late!!!" Tirek announced, with Chrysalis and Cozy nodding in agreement.

"As you wish!!!"

Before long, a massive orange warp appeared in front of the villain trio. In an instant, warp unleashed three massive tendrils that struck Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow sucking their all of their flesh and reducing them into mere skeletons of their former selves. However, the Talisman of Sin appeared from the warp before their very eyes. The moment it got near them, all three villains restored themselves into their normal forms. The only difference is that their eyes turned bright red for a few seconds before they turned back to normal. At first, they thought that nothing happened. However, before they could say anything, the Dark Lord spoke again.

"The spell that I used on all three of you will occur if you face defeat once again. Think of it this way, the moment you all meet your demise, I will collect all of your souls and bring them into my realm. As soon that's done, you will all be reincarnated to lead my demon armies as the Commanders of Hell!!! As long as you do what you all have to do in the mortal world, you have my permission to use the Talisman of Sin at your own discretion. It's meant to open up temporary portals that will allow some of my minions to enter the mortal realm. They will be your reinforcements to command just in case something goes wrong during your conquering campaign. I will stay in touch with all of you. Remember all this well. Farewell, for now!!!"

As soon as the Dark Lord finished with his speech, the imps went back into the portal before it disappeared from view. In just a few minutes of silence, Chrysalis took the Talisman of Sin with her green magic and smirked as she stared at it for a moment.

"We'll keep the Talisman of Sin hidden too; if they were to take the Bell of Grogar away from us, at least this thing will be used as our backup!!" The ex-Changeling Queen announced.

"Quite a perfect plan, indeed!!" Cozy smiled wickedly.

Upon hearing what the Dark Lord said to Queen Twilight, the purple alicorn's jaw dropped in horror after realizing that the villain trio just made a pact with the devil.

"So you see, my dear, I need that Talisman back since no one else could use it other than me and my new collaborators!!"

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!!" Queen Twilight shouted in a Royal Canterlot voice.

"It's already done your majesty!! Yet, even now it's not too late. It's your choice my Queen, you can join me as we both rule Equestria and Hell together or you can continue to watch your fellow subjects get butchered up by my people!!"

"I'm not your Queen!!! Why don't you just go buck yourself, you vile wretch?!!" Twilight snarled as her hooves were suddenly clapped in irons.

"You asked for it!!!" The Dark Lord hissed.

As soon as the Dark Lord disappeared from her view, along with the dimensional window, the metal cage Twilight was in turned into a metal board. With Twilight clapped in iron shackles, she felt her body held on tight to the metal board, with her limps stretched out wide as they reached to every corner of the board. She felt herself and the board slowly descend all the way down to a rocky surface before it stopped. Behind her, a goat-like demon appeared from the shadows and pulled out a cat-o-nine-tails whip from his waist. At the crack of every whip, Twilight started feeling beatings coming from her back. Feeling the burn pain from the whip, Twilight started grunting in pain, feeling the anger building up from inside her while the sounds of getting whipped are being heard from a mile away.

Meanwhile somewhere on the other side of the Demon Realm after walking downhill from the surface above them, Luster and her group finally reached the main gates of the realm at the end of the trail. The gates are seen with two huge, thick wooden doors strapped to metal bearings on all over its edges. In the middle between the two doors, a huge demonic goat skull is seen 25 feet above Luster. When she first saw it, Luster yelped when the skull started lighting up in flames from inside its huge eye sockets. However, Luster still needs to control her fears when entering the demon realm. She is still Queen Twilight's only hope left.

After the flames died out from the skull's eye sockets, the skull was pulled upward by a heavy chain attached to a gatehouse which lies right above the main gates. As soon as the giant skull disappeared underneath the gatehouse, the main gates slowly opened, prompting Luster's group to ready their weapons before getting ready to venture into the land of demons. As for Flurry Heart, she hovered in mid-air while readying her crystallized rail-gun. Feeling determined to get her aunt back, Flurry narrowed her eyes before proceeding from behind Luster's group.

"Hang in there Auntie!!! We're coming to save you!!!" Flurry said in determination.

Before Luster and her friends could pass through the gate, they started hearing a sinister cackle coming from inside the gate.

"Greetings every pony and creature!! Welcome to the Demon Realm!! Hope you have fun here because it will be your last!!!" The Dark Lord bellowed, followed by an evil cackle echoing throughout the realm.

When Luster entered through the open gates, she sees a large brick road with lava streams following down the same direction she is facing. On both their left and right, Luster's group see a row of huge demonic statues behind the metal gates. The structures are made out of marble stone; all of them are standing on two legs holding onto their spears with only their right hand. Up above them, Luster sees that the sky has turned from clear-blue to an ominous orange sky filled with red clouds and from the ground lava started spouting from its holes as they reached up to the sky. From miles away, Luster and her friends could also see huge, buildings with shadowy demonic features, ranging from spikes to tall stakes and huge demonic pony skulls to tall pillars of blazing fire from within.

Judging from the hellish environment they're in, Luster couldn't imagine that she and her friends have just entered another world that is a thousand times more worse than in Tartarus, making them all shiver in anxiety and horror. Unlike Tartarus, however, Luster could see all sorts of demons flying through the sky freely from miles and miles away, flying and circling around several creepy, shadowy structures from a long distance away. Nevertheless, she still can't let her guard down since most of these demons will not show any mercy to her or her fellow ponies; the same goes for any other creature outside of Equestria.

"Remember what I said, guys!!" Luster said, trying to remind the group of the situation at hand. "We all have to stick together in order to stay alive. Queen Twilight is still counting on us, the same goes for you Princess Flurry!!!"

"Uh guys?!" Spring Light asked, interrupting Luster's speech but with a good reason. "I think Flurry just took off!!"

"WHAT??!!!" Luster shrieked. "Where is she going??"

"Me see Flurry head towards some sort of temple on the left!!" Vecra said, briefly as she pointed her hoof towards Luster's right.

The moment the group saw Flurry, the young alicorn flew towards the temple before she disappeared through a teleportation spell.

"FLURRRRRRRRYYYYYYY!!" The entire group groaned in annoyance after seeing Flurry enter the temple without even thinking.

"Let's not stand around guys!!! We better head down to the temple and get Flurry Heart before another demon does." Luster told the group as she trotted towards the temple, readying her shotgun.

For the rest of the group, they followed Luster from behind.