A set of staircases descended out of and down the inky blackness, seemingly endless as each step formed after another in what appeared to be an eternal walkway into the unknown. Each step was seemingly carved out of the very dark stone the two individuals walked, rather than a different material entirely. There was no attempt to make them and by extension the surrounding walls and ceiling unique or to have an artist's flair to them. They were built for one purpose, to have anything more or to serve anything beyond that purpose would be inappropriate and impractical.

Not even ten feet across, the steps were the only real defining feature of this vast underground tunnel in which they were built, sloped as to allow the staircase to continue its descent into the dark below.

Lights were spread along the centre of the walls on either side of them in near-perfect symmetry, seated in small recesses, their wax endless in its supply, continued to burn for ages; the magic that kept them lit gave the candles a blue hue, letting off a surprisingly pleasant glow, which somehow served unnerving atmosphere.

Despite the glow the candles gave off, it was clear darkness was the overpowering force in these halls, as the light barely missed touching the next candle's shine, only allowing so much of the steps to be seen, but beyond that, the darkness prevailed.

It was an easily overwhelmingly foreboding environment, the near muffling silence, the all-encompassing void, with the only other movement being the flicker of the candles as the only two within its walls descended.

Celestia never liked coming here in all the centuries of its otherwise publically unknown service, whether it be due to the air that shook even her or the implications that such a place like this brought. Whatever the case may be, she knew the integral purpose the place served and how perfectly it served said purpose, so, much to her disdain, let it be.

Like a beacon, the woman's near-milky white complexion seemingly caused the darkness around her to recede ever so slightly while the candles seemed to gain a new second wind, growing in size and strength, brightening as she passed.

The man next to her faired much of the same, though it wasn't his complexion or the colour of his skin that the void retreated from, but some other, unseen source. He seemed to just give off an ambient source of light despite his darker clothing.

The two walked down the dreary steps in complete silence, both knowing why they were descending into such a dark place and seemingly stuck in their own thoughts. The reason was one that the Solar Princess actively chose not to dwell on for the moment until she had to.

However, so lost in thought was she, that she hadn't realized they had begun to near their destination until she found herself almost stumbling upon settling on even ground. One minute she had been walking down the cramped stairwell and the next she was stood in an opening that allowed her to breathe properly. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted that the last steps of the stairwell ended just behind her, the same torches that lit the tunnel now lighting this slightly larger opening.

It was no coincidence that she couldn't remember reaching this point in the journey, but she didn't dwell on it. Doing so would only prove to be a headache. Instead, she turned her attention forward towards the last obstacle.

Before her and her companion was a circular room, large charcoal grey doors looming before her. Strange, unrecognizable carved runes along their expanse emitting a faint purple glow. Four darkly armoured Guards stood several feet above them on either side of them, their faces obscured as they stood statuesque, showing no sign of living, not even the soft rise and falling of their chests. Despite this state of seeming non-living, she and the man next to her could feel their eyes bearing down on them.

Thick chains with links the size of the torso of the man next to her crossed both sections of doors, sealing them together at the middle, where they connected to a small circular protrusion, with three glowing lines along its surface pulsing and humming softly. This was old magic and it was magic far older than she was and far rawer than anything she or her sister could produce as they would struggle to create anything close to it even with their combined might.

Stepping up to the connecting joint, the Guards swivelling their heads to watch their every movement, the pair's feet making soft crunches in the light gravel of the tunnel as the Princess placed her outstretched palm directly on the door's surface. Though she could not ever hope to reproduce the magic that created both the door's locking mechanism and what lay behind it, she and her younger sibling were still shown how to work around it to access it.

A sharp tingle arched up her arm as her palm made contact, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end for just a moment before returning to normal. The material that made up the door's entirety was unnaturally cold, easily outclassing the chill that permeated the air around them. Not that it bothered them much. Ignoring the feeling, her horn began to glow its radiant golden hue as her hand became enveloped in the same aura as she began to work the specific spell to unlock the bastion before her.

Finally, the spell work was completed after a few minutes of unnerving silence, a small ball of energy forming at the base of her horn before she lightly pressed the tip directly against the circular protrusion, the ball seeming to phase into the door as its glowing lines increasingly brightened at receiving her spell.

With a groan, the whole structure seemed to shudder, small pebbles falling from the ceiling just above before the mighty chains that sealed it suddenly vanished one by one, shattering into wisps of golden specks to fade into dust.

With its links gone, the doors rumbled with movement, gears and cogs at work as it slowly began to creak open, revealing a blackness that only grew as the gate managed to merge into the adjacent supporting walls, leaving the way clear once more.

Glancing at the statue-like beings beside them, the two noted that the feeling of being watched disappeared and without a word, they continued forward.

The pair passed through the gap made by the moving doors, they were greeted by what appeared to be a void of absolute nothing. Walls stretching above and below them were their only clues that an expanse existed within the darkness around them, what little light that somehow pushed out from the tunnel behind them was subsequently squished by the unyielding and daunting inkiness.

Had this been her first time entering, she would have believed this to be one of Discord's pocket dimensions when he favoured...more lethal options for his pranks. But besides this, she was unfazed by the cavernous depths before her. Her companion, however, faired worse, as he regulated his breathing while his shoulders tensed, seemingly highly unnerved by the sight before him. Ensuring her companion's well-being, the two pressed on.

They walked in more silence, the man closely following behind the Princess as her muscle memory worked its proverbial magic, walking through the twisting and turning maze of columns, plates and piles of gravel. As they moved, movement began to form out in the empty void. A flicker here, a flash there, they easily noted it was all directly in their line of sight.

Alerted, the man reached to his thigh but was quickly stopped by the Princess in front of him. She reassured him that what lay out there wouldn't attack unless provoked. So, with a little persuasion, he followed ever so slightly closer.

After a while, a small amount of light began to shine before them as the two came to a large central dish, with other disks of smaller incremental sizes creating a small platform at the top, the space between the disks letting off an eerie green glow. The pair stepped up and onto the topmost disk that had just enough space to hold them.

As they settled, small flames began to flicker to life from the space between the disks that grew in size, the flames whipping themselves into a whirling frenzy. Despite the newfound activity, no wind could be felt. The two dared not move, remaining as still as possible as they began to feel themselves being pulled in various directions.

Celestia kept her breathing calm and steeled, her now tense nerves demanding action as the band began to hum ominously. It was low at first, but soon became deafening within just a few seconds. Her wings twitched in reaction and her brow furrowed. While she had done this many times before, she could never accept how…wrong this feeling felt. Just another difference between her magic and the magic of those who built this place.

While all this happened, the man next to her stood unfazed for the first time. While Celestia's hair stood on end from how vastly different it all worked compared to the magic she knew extensively, he would go on to note that before they disappeared in a flash of dark green, the magic around him felt...familiar.

~~

The pair reappeared on a clifftop or plateau, the Princess stumbling slightly, catching herself on the perfectly oriented Paladin's shoulder, taking a moment to find her bearings as the nausea of the teleportation crept up. She distastefully swallowed some bile that had made it up to the back of her throat.

After several moments of calm, steady breathing, she nodded to her companion before letting go, gaining back her normally unfazeable demeanour. It didn't matter how many times she teleported here, she could never get used to that feeling. It was far more primal. Raw. Wrong.

Releasing a sigh, the pair gazed out towards the landscape they found themselves in.

It was nothing like anything that could possibly exist in the world at large, and due to its very nature, Celestia was thankful it didn't.

The sky was the first indication of lacking anything of home, a was a stark contrast to what either of them was used to. It was a swirling mix of sickly green and onyx black, resembling a vast, endless ocean. Above them, a massive orb loomed, its black core surrounded by what appeared to be the remnants of shattered landmasses. Was this a broken planet, perhaps?

Despite the unsettling sight, she knew she couldn't dwell on it. Those who came before her had designed this prison world, and she had no intention of questioning their plans. It was designed for one sole purpose and one purpose alone.

The ground beneath her feet was just as desolate as the sky above. There was no sign of vegetation, life, or any living creatures. Only endless stretches of grey rock, interrupted by deep canyons that cut through the plateaus. Looking down, she could see the eerie glow of luminescent green rivers winding their way through the valleys.

This realm had a name, and while many knew of its existence, only the damned knew of its appearance. Its only gateway being accessible by those who descended deep into the bowels of the Canterlot Horn, getting past the various royal guards that protected the many passageways before the tunnel proper.

"Welcome to Tartarus," She said finally, the man next to her whipped around upon hearing this nightmare place's name.

"This is Tartarus?" Percival asked, looking out towards the desolate landscape. "I expected more fire and brimstone."

"A better depiction than what reality has to offer," She said quietly. "A foul creation for the foulest of souls."

"Creation?" He repeated. "So it was built."

"Contrary to popular belief, Tartarus didn't manifest out of nowhere nor was it formed alongside our world," Celestia clarified. "It was made by hand and magic at the request of Durin and Vihaan. From what I know, it took some persuading, but Mother and Father eventually agreed and helped with its creation."

"Durin and Vihaan had this place built? They were certainly more active than I expected," Percival thought as he looked around. "They certainly had some...creative ideas,"

"Certainly of their crueller ideas."

"You don't sound like you agree with it."

"I never said I didn't."

Not totally sure how to respond, the Paladin simply turned his gaze outwards again. The two stood at the precipice of the cliff, Percival peering over the edge and cringing as he saw how far down it went, or better yet, how he couldn't.

Eventually, both saw a speck in the distance, bobbing up and down, gradually growing in size as they could make out the general shape of a winged beast. The speck grew and grew until it was upon them.

Large enough to rival Canterlot Castle with a wingspan that only seemed to double its already gargantuan size, the massive dragon slowed its forward momentum with its four pairs of incredibly wide wings, giving the pair enough time to make its gnarled scales. Made seemingly from the same dark stone around them, purple crystals seemed to jut from various places along its body, no more pronounced than on and along its back and tail.

Tiny, beady eyes locked onto the pair as the beast continued forward, latching onto the cliff face and knocking several boulders loose into the void below. Snarling at them with lipless teeth, a deep bellow rumbled in its throat while it gazed down at the vastly smaller individuals. Percival glanced between the goliath and the Princess, keeping his readied hands from his weapons as the beast seemed to give out a hearty chuckle as the corners of the Princess's lips tugged upwards slightly.

"Midir," She said, crossing her arms under her breast. "It's been quite some time."

"Princess," Midir said with a low, but distinctly female tone, inclining her massive head very slightly to gaze at the man standing a few feet behind the Solar Diarch. "And who might this be?"

Celestia stood beside the white-haired man, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. "Midir, meet Sir Percival Felwinter. The newest Paladin."

"Paladin," The great beast repeated before nodding. "Ah, so the time has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled."

"I would have thought you would be up to date?"

"We have been going through some renovations as of late, so my time has been taken up," The Dragon said, briefly peering over its shoulders. "Though I must say, there is something familiar about him. I recognise his scent."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately. The scent thing is new though," Percival replied.

"I can only imagine. When the small Unicorn was incarcerated, I knew something was afoul. I take it you are here to visit the new addition?"

The Princess sighed heavily through her nose before nodding softly. "I am."

Midir shifted her body, placing her topmost wing on the cliff top beside the pair a few metres away while arching her back so they could comfortably climb aboard and settle her gnarled back. "Then I shall take you to him."

~~

Princess Celestia and Percival walked along a large bank that bordered one of the countless rivers that flowed through the devilish realm, the acrid water casting dancing shadows along the cliff face opposite them and on the rock hanging over them. The dark illusions moved and bent along the rocky surface of the canyon that surrounded them, the moving shadows quickly falling into the numerous large dark holes that were embedded into the rock.

Only, these crevices weren't just empty holes in eroded or pocketed stone. They, much like everything in this seemingly handcrafted nightmare, served a specific purpose. If one glanced beyond the thick, green flame-coated metal bars that crisscrossed each entrance, the answer to their purpose would become quite apparent.

This was a prison after all. And a prison needs cells.

There were hundreds along the opposite wall alone and a numberless amount lining the countless walls of this infinite realm. And all of them holding individuals from the world of the living, sealed and kept here for eternity.

Celestia recognised many. She and her sister had seen to the incarceration of many of them personally. Though, she noticed, there were some creatures here that were completely unfamiliar to her, ones she had never seen before. Tartarus wasn't just Equestria's hell, but a hell to many as it evolved over time. Thankfully, such things could not reach her home. Of that, its warden had made quadropoly sure of.

However, as the pair made it along the path in front of them, both ignoring the maleficent, gleefully insane, or just generally malicious looks of the creatures that dwelled here, Percival noted a particular statue, perpetually stuck in a jeering cheer.

Eventually, their guide stopped some distance behind them, having followed silently along the river bank below, her size easily letting her peer into the outcropping without having to move her serpentine neck too much. Pointing a claw into a particular cell, the pair turned to face it.

Slumped against the wall opposite them, Blueblood's head was bowed but still raised enough for him to glare through his unkempt and scraggly hair. A small white stump jutted from his forehead, the remnants of a horn that had been summarily cut short cleanly an inch from the base. His clothes fair no better, having been replaced by simple articles: a plain charcoal grey shirt and black joggers. The attire of the inmates of Tartarus.

"Oh my! It would seem the ever so great and powerful Princess has deigned to bless me with her presence!" His voice was still as uptight and prideful as it had ever been, but far faded from what it used to be. His face remained utterly unamused, his brow furrowed deeply. "I'm honoured."

Celestia stood there for a while, her face unreadable as her breath somehow stayed slow and smooth, even after her bottom lip trembled and her eyes gathered a soft wetness.

"I don't know what to say to you," She said softly. "I want to scream. Shout. Cry. But I find myself unable to follow through with any of it."

"If you have nothing to say, then you wasted your time," He replied.

"What did I do wrong?" She asked, stepping closer to the cell, the green flames of the thick metal bars illuminating her face. "Did I not love you enough? Did I not spend enough time with you? What could have possibly sent you down this path?"

Standing from his corner of the cell, Blueblood stepped up close to the fiery bars, barely missing the licking flames. "Do you know? Do you know what it's like to live your life in a world where those around you could not possibly ever hope to stand close to you? Because I do. For as long as I can remember, I have never felt as though I belonged, that this world felt wrong in every way. So many things that need changing but no way for them to change."

"That was until they found me. The things they promised. The change they said they would bring. To the world, to its people," He stepped ever so slightly closer as black veins ebbed up his neck and down his arms, his eyes turning bloodshot as he stepped closer, still missing the flames by inches. "They promised the very change I wanted for so many years. They promised a world where I and others like me could belong and I believe them. The change they have wrought already goes far beyond my dreams."

Celestia stared for a second, her mind a torrent of thoughts as she looked upon the person she called nephew and felt one thing: betrayal. She had taken the man in at a young age and loved him as much as she could, doing her best to do right by him. To see him having brought himself so low and to see him aiding their enemy broke and shattered her heart. In her long life, she has been betrayed before, that sensation was not new, but to be betrayed by him stung.

Glancing at Percival, he stared with unmoving and unflinching eyes, disdain and malice clear as day in his steel blue eyes. Looking back at Blueblood, she saw the man hold a triumphant grin across his face, seemingly pleased with his actions and the consequences of said actions. The longer she looked, the less and less he looked like the nephew she loved and the more he looked like the very things her Paladin swore to defend them against.

"This world is afflicted!" He shouted, his eye becoming more bloodshot as the dark veins stretching up his neck deepened as he clung to the flaming bars, unfazed by the sizzling of his pale skin. "This world is diseased and rotting! Corrupted down to the very core! We do not belong here! We took this world from its rightful owners and took everything it offered, bleeding it dry! The demons seek to take back what is rightfully theirs!"

"We are that disease! And they are the cure!"

"ENOUGH!"

Blown back by the sudden sound emanating from Percival's snarling lips, Blueblood slammed into the back of his cell, landing back right where he had stood as he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Celestia stumbled back, both from the sound and the shock of the words her nephew had spouted. Covering her mouth as tears readily streamed down her face, ruining any makeup that had been applied some hours prior. This time, it was Percival's turn to step up to the bars, his face contorted into a visage of rage Celestia hadn't yet seen from the man.

"You are a sick, twisted, vindictive excuse of a man! I should have cut you down when I had the chance!"

The once-Prince laughed as he stood, again approaching the bars of his prison. "I have nothing to say to you, Paladin. While you have been a nuisance to our plans, your time will come, sooner or later."

Percival then suddenly reached between the bars, locking his fist around Blueblood's throat, unfazed as the fire licked up the sides of his gauntlet. "I've nearly hit my boiling point with you. First Damien now whoever you spoke with. How do you know me? What. Plans?"

The ex-Prince only laughed. "I don't have to say a thing. Nothing you do will compare to this hellhole. Do what you want to me. You won't get a word from me."

Pulling him forward, Percival rammed the smaller man's head into the bars, singing his hair slightly and leaving a bright red mark where the metal impacted as he fell onto his back. Drying her eyes as best she could, Celestia, placed a soft hand on Percival's shoulder, who stepped aside when he saw her gaze never once shift from the fallen man before them.

"Is there anything I can say? Anything I can do? Anything at all to bring you back from this path you have chosen?"

Crawling back to the back of the cell, Blueblood pulled himself up to the dark grey stone that made up his bed and sat cross-legged, bowing his head down resulting in his dirtied hair falling, obscuring his face as the black veins slowly crept up.

"I am beyond anything you could offer."

"Then I'm done here."

Swiftly turning on her heel, Celestia stormed off towards the patiently waiting Midir who watched the scene unfold with an almost pitied expression as the Princess tightly balled her fists, the tears returning with fervour. With one glance and a simple grunt, Percival too turned and joined the positively sobbing Diarch up and onto the back of the Warden Midir, who offered quiet words as the trio took off, none so much as looking back as the cackles of the once prideful Prince echoed off the canyon.

Author's Note

Very proud of how this one turned out, definitely one of my better pieces if I do say so myself
Been playing a lot of Destiny 1 and this rendition of Tartarus is heavily inspired by Crota's Throne World

As always, hope you enjoyed

Please point out any mistakes I may have made
Constructive criticism is always appreciated
Until next time, TTFN!