“Entering!”

“Permission Granted, Captain. All hooves on deck, Captain escorting new prisoner.”

Chains rattled as the changeling queen shuffled through the stone barrier making up the new entrance to Tartarus. What was once a traditional jail guarded by the eternal Cerberus, had become a maximum security prison. Guards lined the walls, stationed between the various jail cells, carved into the walls and engraved with rune arrays so complex, not even the prodigies of the magic colleges could decipher them without months of work.

“Oh dear, am I to be thrown into one of these cells?” The skittering of her chitinous hooves echoed faintly in the dreary cavern, each guard keeping careful eye on the bound queen. A prodding of a halberd gave the answer. “Fine. Don’t tell me what’s going on. It’s not like it is one of your pony laws.”

“Color me surprised you actually studied our laws at all, considering how many you broke over the last few years.” The captain’s clipped tone annoyed Chrysalis. “You will be entering the Pit.”

“The what? There was no mention of this ‘pit’ you speak of in your laws.”

“You’re right. There isn’t. High threat prisoners are thrown into the Pit until either they are repentant enough to escape through its enchantments, or they are dead.” He prodded her again, drawing a thin line of green blood. “Keep moving.”

Chrysalis almost purred. “So you’re letting me be released into this Pit, until either I succumb to old age, die by the hooves of another, or I become so genuinely sorry that I can actually escape the pit myself? Sounds like this place is a joke I can thrive in.”

“We’ll see.”

The sound of crunching bone and meat plunging down onto cave floors was the first sign of something deeply, deeply wrong. “Excuse me, Captain.. What is that awful noise?”

“The other criminals you will be with.”

“Do.. you have names for any of them?”

“Grogar. Tirek. Ahgg. The remnants of Lavan. Cozy Glow, although I’ve heard nothing of her recently.”

Chrysalis practically purred. “So I will be housed with only the best. I see.”

The narrow hall soon opened up into a vault, a thin, blue shield forming a seal over the dark abyss below. “Prisoner to be dropped into the Pit. Prepare access!” The captain called out.
A pair of battle mages stepped forward, and parted the shield in a predetermined spot, revealing a steep staircase. The captain prodded her again. “Get in.”

“Aren’t you going to remove these from me first?” A coy smile and a lift of her hoof brought attention to the shackles once more. The Captain shook his head and pushed her. “Fine. I get the point.” She looked to the depths once again, her eyes having slowly adjusted to see the faint specks of light amongst the gloom. Taking her first steps down, the mages closed the shield behind her. The shackles and horn-binder fell off almost immediately. “Hm. Interesting.” A burst of green flame erupted from her horn, slamming into the shield. The ponies did not flinch.

“I suggest you get down there and find a corner, before someone else beats you to it. I hope you rot.” The captain spun on a heel. “Exiting the Pit. Prisoner escorted. Engage authentication spells.” The clicking of his golden shoes signaled his exit.

Looking around the edge of the pit, unicorns could be seen lifting crates of mixed staple foods, from the fruits and vegetables that ponies prefer, to large cuts of meat needed for some with a carnivorous diet. All of them were being placed on a rope and cage elevator over the center of the Pit, as if being prepared for a feeding time. Huh. They actually take care of their prisoners to some degree. However, I will need to strike to find my own source of food sooner rather than later. This will do for now.

Chrysalis’ descent was a slow one. The Pit itself was divided into layers with ledges upon them, similar to a diamond mine. Enormous doesn’t justify its size, nor the complexity. The number of dug halls branching off the main staircase led to personalized caverns housing other convicts, many of them glaring as she passed. All of them gave off the scent of disgust, anger, and defensiveness. The gloom was not as dark as she had expected, since the amount of torchlight kept it just bright enough for the mammalian convicts to see, but just dark enough to hide. A brilliant solution, coming from the ponies. It’s like my old hive’s nursery. Deep and wide, and filled with condemned life.

A new scent mingled with the aroma of selfishness and decay. One unlike any creature she’d ever met, but it gave off an aura of something… sweet? Chrysalis shook her head. All of these individuals would be here for one reason or another. It may be a trap.

Arriving at the deepest layer, and assumed hub, eyes glimmered in the darkness, all upturned at the nearly full cage. The familiar mug of Tirek stood by the entrance of a large cave, bulky and massive. I thought he was stripped of magic… Did he perhaps steal another’s here? A portion of his left horn had been broken off, perhaps from fighting another.

The actual Grogar was pallid compared to the mockery that Discord had been, but he still held that authoritarian confidence. He and Tirek stood alongside one another, but their eyes drifted between the cage, and some foreign form in the corner. Tirek set his jaw, and Grogar shook his head at the creature. Grogar had a portion of his horns missing too. Strangely, the right one, mirroring Tirek.

The creature in question had long, thin hair. It was pink, a strange color in this darkness. Its skin was a pale hue, and quite hairless. It held itself in an almost feline pose, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. It’s torso was decorated in a sheaf of fur, most definitely made from another prisoner. However, the second most striking thing about it was it’s clear, young, pure eyes, wide and eager. The first was the fact it held a set of weapons in its claws, made from a pair of red and blue horns.

A trumpet blew suddenly, echoing in the chamber. Most eyes suddenly locked on the elevator. “Feeding time convicts!” As the cage descended, Grogar and Tirek stepped forward, directly towards Chrysalis.

They look to start a fight… but with what? She quietly thought. The other creatures in the walls retreated from those two, as they stood beside the Changeling Queen. “Hello boys.”

“Hello once again, Chrysalis. I see they captured you as well.” Tirek mused, his voice a strangely polite timber.

“Ah. This is the one known as Chrysalis. Finally good to see a friendly face.” The ancient goat sounded young and spry, despite his faded coat. He was surprisingly friendly, considering the stories of the ancestral tyrant. “I hope you’re willing to listen to an old goat like me, because we will need your help this time.”

“Excuse me? When did I ever agree to help you at all?”

“I’m calling your honor as a queen to help your ally in this manner. The oath that we made to each other when Discord deceived us?”

The cage had reached half way, and the growls of the crowd rose in volume.

“So then what happened to Co-” Chrysalis started, before Grogar put his hoof over her mouth.

“Chrysalis. This isn’t a matter of pride and power. This is food for the day. We need to think about what we want from the crates, and grab it.” The goat took his hoof off her muzzle, and looked to the strange creature with a worried glance. “Grogar and I can defend you long enough to grab your share. After that, you need to run to the cave that was behind Tirek and I. Innocence will go after you otherwise. We can explain more afterwards.”

Chrysalis raised her eyebrow at the muffler, her slit eyes practically glaring. Grogar motioned for her to look at their companion. Tirek lowered his torso, raising his arms slightly. Scars from strange bites lined his ribs, where chunks of flesh had been torn from him. “On three.”

The food cage landed. No one dared approached. “One.”

The harsh clanking of metal echoed as magic latches gave out along the bottom of the elevator. “Two.”

The iron cage rose once more, releasing the crates lids to reveal the supplies. “THREE!”

Hunger. She thought. I am hungry. Her eyes looked up at the cage being loaded. Feeding time.

Her eyes traced the crowd, looking at her possible prey for today. A new one had arrived. Her black, shiny coat caught her attention. Protection. She poised to lunge, only to frown as the red centaur and blue goat went to her side. Food. She looked back to her little cave she had carved out, her tiny fire continuing to burn. Need fuel.

“One.” Tirek said, and she smiled. He always helped her time her hunt.

“Two.” She tensed up, clutching the hooked daggers made from the two horns.

“Three!” She lunged at the boxes, quickly diving in. She hooked a pair of dragons by their soft throats as they landed before her, ripping them open and tossing them back. Their choking cries for help would be ignored. They had become Food. Food didn’t talk. Food tasted good. New food looked hard, but tasty. Like crab. She jumped for the new Food.

Tirek slammed into her from the side, spreading his arms and keeping himself low. She rolled to her feet, frowning, her eyes watering. “Food….”

“No, Innocence. You can’t have her.” Tirek replied.

“But.. I’m hungry.”

“No. You can have the elevator food, or those two foods you threw towards your cave. You can’t have the new one.”

Innocence frowned, but listened. She wasn’t going to win today.

Grogar bashed off two eager gargoyles, grunting at the impacts. “Quickly now Chrysalis, we don’t know how long Tirek will be able to handle her. Innocence is always an agent of chaos when it comes to feeding time.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, grabbed roughly a dozen apples and flitted to the cave belonging to the two tyrants.

“Tirek, Get the grub and go! I’ll take your place!” Grogar Slid between Tirek and Innocence, brandishing his battered horns. Innocence frowned, but she stepped forward, lowering her weapons. “You gonna behave this time?”

“I’m hungry.”

“I know. Are you going to behave?”

“Yes.”

Grogar growled at her, making her flinch a bit. “Okay. Wait your turn.” Tirek, meanwhile, had gathered up his and Grogar’s share amongst the chaos of the other prisoners, and had already escaped to the cave. Once he had waved to the old goat, did Grogar step aside. “Go.” The old goat walked backwards away from the chaos, watching the strange, pink haired being. The crowd parted away from her, not wishing to join her as victims.

Innocence always grabbed vegetables and fruits. Apples, oranges, pears. Broccoli, Asparagus, tomato. This time, she did not take meat. Instead, she took a pair of the crate lids, put her supplies on them, and pushed them back to her cave, stopping only to grab the now dead dragons from the entrance.

Chrysalis watched in shock from the cave. The anger, anguish, despair, and sorrow were all so prevalent across every prisoner except Innocence. She only had two or three emotions she displayed, compared to the kaleidoscope within the fighting. “What in the Equestrian World is she?”

“Human, from a future after the Great Exodus.” Grogar matter-of-factly stated, crunching down on a carrot. “Humans used to walk the lands before the time of Celestia and Luna, foiling the plans of my allies and I. However, after some time, all humans and most life related to them just vanished, in a term I dubbed the Great Exodus. Ever since, humans just haven’t been here.”

Tirek stoked the flame of his little clay fireplace, and put some meat on a stone slab, setting it into the coals. “Anri Thorpe was her name. She was genuinely a kind soul before she arrived here. The guards said she killed a pregnant mare and painted walls with the unborn child.”

Chrysalis looked almost mortified. Almost. “Now hold on, that’s not what happened though, Chrysalis. She was teleported here to Equestria, from a place known as Earth.” Grogar interceded, looking at Tirek. “Earth is the new homeland of humans. I have visited there once. They don’t have much magic, if at all, so sending someone from there takes far more power than one would need to go there. But continue Tirek.”

Nodding, the crimson centaur continued, flipping his meat over. “When she arrived, the cruel mage who teleported her put her on top of the poor mare, instantly obliterating her and her child in an explosion of blood.” A soft sigh escaped the massive myth. “She cried the first week she was here, declaring her innocence, whilst the guards called her a monster. She watched the fighting here, and scavenged what she could. Glow tried to cheer her up, if only to get another pawn.” he flipped the meat again. Crushing an onion between his hands, he laid the remnants over the meat to cook more.

The sounds of ripping flesh across the way rolled the former queen’s stomach. Thankfully, the lids Innocence had put up blocked any sights. “So… what happened? She doesn’t seem to have many emotions rolling off of her like most of the inmates here.”

Grogar scowled. “The little shit got what she deserved.” Tirek sighed again.

“Okay, you two have gotten soft. You are both sighing and quiet, and even defending and acting like we were not plotting to betray each other at a moment’s notice. Grogar, you are the ancient tyrant who has stories told to young ones about how not to be a monster! Tirek, you almost conquered Equestria, and held the power of three Alicorns! What has changed?”

Grogar cracked a hoof across Chrysalis’ face. “This place happened, Chrysalis. The worst of the world rots here. The only way to get out is to actually reflect upon yourself and what you did, and find the good in yourself. I am still the tyrant. I am still the leader of this shithole. I control the pecking order, with Tirek here. I cannot ever leave. I am still a monster.” Chrysalis ran a hoof over her cheek, and found it stained green. “Tirek can’t leave either. We both have done too much to ever leave without genuine forgiveness from the world itself. But there was one line not even I wouldn’t cross.”

Chrysalis glared, looking at the goat. “Oh tell me, this should be a riot.”

“Chrysalis…. What is one thing that you wouldn’t even do to one of your victims?” Tirek asked. “What is the one thing that you, of all people, could easily exploit and do, but don't, just because it's the one speck of decency you have as a pony-like creature?”

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to attain my goal.”

Grogar growled. “Chrysalis. An innocent creature was thrown down here due to a cruel fate dealt to her. Surrounded by murderers, thieves, would be conquerors, and near-irredeemable psychopaths, what is the one crime no redeemable creature thinks of committing?”

“... No. No, I--”

“Chrysalis.”

“NO. I refuse to believe that such… violation would ever happen. Not even I would do that. That breaks ponies. That destroys the emotions I so covet. That just destroys a pony completely. Don’t even--”

Tirek put his hand over her muzzle, and looked deep into the emerald eyes of the queen. “Anri was the kindest soul to ever be put down here. She gave me and Grogar the value of friendship, for the month we knew her.” Tirek got real close to her.

“The sweet girl we knew became the Innocent Monster, because Cozy Glow began eating her soul.”

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Timeless Lord Slayer