"Welcome to Tartarus, Enjoy your Stay..."

Ponyville was a quiet and peaceful small village, perfectly blissful, and easy-going (with random events keeping everypony on their hooves from time to time). Life in this sleepy town was relaxed and comfortable for everypony living in it. At least- for most ponies…

A purple unicorn was frantically moving from bookshelf to bookshelf in her library tree house home. Sweat beaded down her forehead as a brilliant aura of purple light erupted from her horn and covered the books in front of her within a veil of magic. Instantly, they parted from the dusty shelves and circled around the equine. The books rearranged themselves in various patterns with speed and precision before being put back into place on the shelf.

The unicorn wiped the sweat off with a hoof and gave a sigh of relief before levitating a checklist to herself along with a quill.

“Reorganize the entire library for the third time… CHECK!” She said it with a happy smile before rolling up her checklist. A thought went across her mind and she quickly shouted through the house, “SPIIIIKE!”

“Argh, come on Twilight… I’m trying to get some sleep… you’ve been doing this since yesterday!” A tired purple dragon said with annoyance from the slumber of his bed basket.

“Oh, sorry Spike, I was wondering if you could help me with taking this list to the piles of completed lists on my desk,” she said while levitating the piece of paper towards Spike.

He grabbed it in a grumpy slumber, “Yeah, yeah… I’ll get it later…” He yawned. “Besides… why are you cleaning so much… now?”

“Well, you know that having a clean working space leaves you free of distractions to do work. So by cleaning up every single thing in the library and making sure every object is where it belongs then I can maximize my efficiency to not be distracted by unneeded mess. As Princess Celestia herself said, ‘A good workplace is a clean workplace.’ Organization is key, Spike, and I think you should pay more attention to it—”

Her eyes glanced over to him, but found out that he was way passed consciousness when she began. She giggled quietly under her breath and silently made her way outside, careful not to make a noise to wake up the grumpy dragon. As soon she had the door closed firmly behind her, she trotted away from her home and further into town.

A small shadowy fog crept through an open window of the tree house. It materialized in a small circle until a dark figure loomed inside the empty house. A dark ragged cloak shrouded it from its head to the ground, it was impossible to tell if it was a pony or some other creature. Its face was obscured, but it could see fine. In fact, it didn’t really prefer the brightness of the sunlight and stealthily made its way over to a table. An arm from the figure reaches inside the chest of its cloak and pulls out a sealed royal scroll before placing it in the centre of the oak furniture. Its job was done, all it had to do now was wait. It turns away from the scroll and chuckles sinisterly under its breath before dematerializing into a puff of smoke and vanishes from sight.

Twilight came into her home in a huff and slammed the door behind her. Nothing interesting had happened to her all day. She had gone across town to see if there was anything new, but nothing! She met some of her friends and told them about her plan to maximize work and study time. She received a ‘You’re working too hard’ from Applejack and being called an ‘Egghead’ by Rainbow Dash never was a good thing for Twilight even though she sees it as a harmless joke. She didn’t meet Rarity or Fluttershy since they were likely at their homes and Pinkie… well— Pinkie was doing… Pinkie Pie things…

Twilight wasn’t going to press into that any further than she had to.

Overall, minus her achievement in eliminating any speck of dust in her home, her day generally was normal. She liked the daily similar routines of her life, but sometimes they were just TOO similar. After the Changeling crisis, the Crystal Empire returning, AND reforming Discord, there was nothing exciting happening. Not even though famed ‘Ponyville Random Animal Attack moments’ didn`t happen as often, and usually had more bunnies instead of three-headed dogs running around.

She remembered that she didn’t much like the random animal attacks, and figured the peaceful life she was living in was for the best. She trotted around the room and noticed that Spike was still sleeping. It’s been nearly a day and he’s still out like a light bulb. Twilight was about to turn in for the night, but she could sense there was something about her home when she took her first step up the stairs. In fact, she felt it the moment she came back. Something was out of place.

By some magic Twilight radar she determined the source of the disturbance to be coming from a table. Her purple hoofs trotted across the floor towards the wooden structure, which turned into a speedy gallop once she seen what was lying on the table.

“Oh my gosh! It’s a note from Princess Celestia!” she shouted in surprise.

Twilight always loved receiving letters from her mentor, so no doubt she had a large grin on her face when she carefully undid its rolls to see what message the Princess of the Sun would’ve sent her. As her eyes scrolled down the page, her face turned from joy, to a scowl, and finally to horror and shock.

“Oh no! Oh no no no no no! This is not good, this is not good!” She turned to her sleeping friend and tried to nudge him awake. “Spike! We have an emergency! I need you to send a message to all our friends, NOW!”

The dragon kept sleeping; he was s unconscious that he wasn’t likely going to wake up until the sun rose.

“Darn it!” Twilight said to herself before turning to her thoughts. Maybe I can send it first thing in the morning! I think we’ll still have enough time until then! A hoof landed on her forehead as she noticed a small problem. Oh no… how am I going to sleep? I’m going to be staying up all night with this going on in my head! I need to be rested. But how? HOW!?

Twilight was over-thinking things too much and soon she became dizzy and she could see the room spinning. A small bolt of magic went up from her horn and exploded in the air while spraying a delicate powder over her. In her confusion, Twilight couldn’t tell whether that was a sleep spell or a mustache spell.

She fell onto the floor with a thud. It was definitely the sleep spell.

Twilight awoke with a gasp. The morning rays hit her eye and she quickly shielded it with a hoof to avoid any sun damage. She could smell the fresh scent of pancakes in the air.

“Oh well look who’s awake! How are you sleepyhead?” A cheerful Spike said next to her as he arrived with a plate of pancakes drenched in syrup and butter.

“I’m the sleepyhead?” Twilight said sarcastically.

“Meh, it was a tell-tale sign that dragon hibernation is coming closer. Anyways I made you some breakfast,” he said while putting the plate down next to the rising unicorn.

“Spike! We don’t have time for that!”

“What!? Why?”

Twilight presses both her hoofs against Spike’s cheeks and said with a shouting importance, “EQUESTRIA IS IN DANGER!”

“Ooooh, alright. No need to shout,” Spike grumbled. “So who is it this time? Discord turned bad again? Sombra came back to life as a zombie? Oh! Maybe this has something to do with your coronation—”

“NO! None of those things!” Twilight said with concern. “Spike, I want you to send a letter to all our friends and tell them to meet me here as soon as possible.”

“But your pancakes—”

“I’ll eat them. Thank you Spike… now, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!”

After Spike had made five note copies to send and Twilight had finished her pancakes, her friends periodically showed up to her home with concern plastered on their faces.

“Twi, we got your letter. What’s happening?” Applejack prodded her. Twilight gave her a grim expression as she quickly levitated the scroll she read the night before in front of her to read in front of her friends.

“Dear My Faithful Student,”

“It is required that you and your friends’ services and skills are to save the land of Equestria from danger once more. I trust in you all from your prior experiences that this task I’m about to give you will be completed without consequence or failure. It is imperative you solve this dilemma before things get out of hoof. The matter in question lies within the underground world of Tartarus. Tartarus is mainly used for departing souls to seek a place of sanctuary, but Tartarus is also used to safeguard Equestria from many dangerous ponies and creatures that had threatened the land before by keeping them locked in.

Every few centuries the magical locks put in Tartarus slowly deteriorate. Before it used to be for thousands of years, but as the number of inmates grows over the course of time, the more demanding the work has to be to maintain them under guard. I suspect it will be soon before the locks will break and Equestria will be in danger from dark forces.

You and your friends must head into the depths of Tartarus and seek out its ruler, Hades. From there he will tell you how to fix these seals. Usually only souls can pass through the gates, but I’ve made special arrangements with him to meet you. Remember, the fate in Equestria rests in your hoofs.”

~Princess Celestia~

“Tartarus… wow… That was one place I never had planned to visit,” Rarity said with a nervous voice.

“Y-you mean whe-where all those [size=8]horrible and scary[/size] things live in? T—Tartarus…” Fluttershy was shaking when she uttered that word and was going to faint if not for Applejack to help comfort her through this fear.

“Don’t worry sugarcube; it won’t be so bad with all six of us headin there together. It’ll be like being in a big safe herd, nothing will get by us.”

This made Fluttershy relax more, but she still had most of the jitteriness that everypony felt in the room. Tartarus, as the legends have told it, was not a very nice place to be in. Full of boiling lava and crazy apparitions of tormented souls and hellish spawn; it was the perfect place for a vacation… if you never wanted to come back alive.

“Well… It’s up to us to protect Equestria from the urgency of our mission! I guess we should be on our way then… TO TARTARUS! …everypony?” Twilight still sounded unsure and frightened within her fake cheer, but who wouldn’t be?

They were all going on a trip to a destination none of them wanted to go to.

“Are we there yet? Because we’re still walking and that usually means that we aren’t there yet, but we might be soon! So when are we there yet? Are we there yet now?” Pinkie happily jumped next to the group of nervous ponies as they walked further into the Everfree forest.

“We should be in a bit. The entrance to Tartarus is a cave, hopefully there we’ll be able to work our way through it and speak to Hades,” Twilight replied as she trudged through some sticky green vines.

“NEAT-O! A spooky cave, ooooooo, I wish I brought my flashlight, we could’ve acted like ghosts and scare Hades! Oh, before I forget! Twilight, what’s a Hades?”

She let out a grunt; she could barely walk through this forest, and having Pinkie yammering in her ear all this time was getting on her nerves. At least she could hopefully humor the pink pony long enough until they arrive at the entrance.

“HADES. Is a pony, much like Celestia due to his age and power, yet he’s also unlike her in many ways. He’s existed probably for just as long as Celestia had, and he’s the fearful ruler of Tartarus. Many ponies describe him as some sort of demonic being with a large range of godly powers and manipulation. That’s somewhat true, but no pony knows for certain what he actually looks like and what he does other than... well… rule an underground land full of condemned criminals and boiling lava.”

“Basically the main point is this—” Twilight emphasized. “— don’t mess with him.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said with a grinning smile. Somehow the group could feel in their minds that Hade’s encounter with Pinkie would be… interesting.

“He sounds like some big shot, I hope he can back it up,” Rainbow Dash said with an unimpressed smug look on her face.

Twilight rolled her eyes and changed the subject, “We need to fix the spells that had kept this place working for years, or else all hell could break loose. Literally!”

This made any nerves of steel they had before, melt into a jelly of fear.

A few moments later and their small trek through the forest led them to a dark and eerie lit cave. A sign overhead read, “Tartarus Entrance! If there are any complaints, please file a letter to Hades. Thank you for visiting, have a nice day.”

“Well, this place is creepily friendly,” Rarity said with a nervous chill going down her spine.

“Alright girls, we can do this, together!” Twilight raised a hoof.

More hoofs joined in an explosion of colour.

“TOGETHER!”

With that rousing war cry, they descended straight into the cave.

It seems this eerie cave went on for miles. The group had lost track of time, and the amount of light behind them was diminishing faster and faster to the point when Twilight had to cast a light spell for them to continue further down into the dark abyss, it's black rock walls compressing the space around them. None of them had claustrophobia, but right now they weren't so sure.

None made a noise; they were all too scared of the lurking shadows, afraid if one of them will pounce on them. Sweat poured from the heads of the ponies.

“Is it just me or are things getting really hot?” Rarity asked rhetorically.

Soon they found their answer when they reached the bottom of the cave as it opened out to a large underground landscape behind solid golden gates. Twilight’s light wasn’t needed anymore as the place was lit up by orange and red glows. They were amazing at all this light didn’t come from Celestia’s sun, but here they were. Right in front of the Gates of Tartarus.

“Wow,” was all they could manage to say. There was a charm to the light-red rock walls and floors they were standing on, and it was considerably warmer.

Twilight led the group in front of the looming gate which towered above them by metres.

“Don’t tell me we have to open THAT!” Rainbow shouted in dismay.

AS the group approached closer, the gates suddenly flung open and welcomed the arrival of the ponies.  They were taken off guard by that sudden movement, but they quickly regained their composure with a gulp and trotted right through. As soon as Applejack, the last pony, walked through the gates, they slammed shut behind them with a loud echoing metal clang which sounded loudly through Tartarus’ soundless void.

Applejack looked at the ponies in front of her with a nervous expression and gulped, “I have a real bad feeling ‘bout this.”

Suddenly, the ponies could feel the ground beginning to shake. It grew more violent and intense, it wasn’t an earthquake.

Something was moving, towards them.

They didn’t even move a hoof forward before a large black three-headed dog appeared before them in a clumsy heap of pure muscle.

“AAH! CERBERUS!” Twilight shouted in terror. The rest of the ponies with her also frightfully shouted.

The dog scrapped its paw against the ground, the three heads it has were arguing with each other in barks and growls. All three then focused their attention on the ponies in front of them, petrifying the colourful ponies in their tracks.

Twilight could only do what her instincts told her. She couldn’t run anywhere. She and her friends would have to fight this beast.

The dog finished scrapping his paw and immediately rushed towards them in a blind fury. There was no way they could stop this thing. They closed their eyes when the beast approached them; none of them imagined this would have been their last moments.

Twilight could feel the running steps approach her, go over her, and then behind her.

What…?

She peeked through her eyes and saw that the dog was gone; she turned around and saw that it had grabbed hold on Fluttershy.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Everyone shouted.

The beast opened its mouth; it was going to eat her! OH THE CRUELTY! None of them could have imagined that after all her time feeding animals that SHE was the one going to be fed to Cerberus!

A tongue rolled out and… playfully licked the side of Fluttershy’s mane.

“Oh, whose a good puppy, you are, yes you are!” Fluttershy said with a smile, all her fear before of this place was erased in that one moment.

It seems Cerberus wasn’t really after them; Fluttershy’s animal communication has saved the group yet again it seems. Some of them couldn’t help, but smile and laugh at this display of affection from the three-headed dog.

“DOWN BOY! HEEL! That is NOT how we treat our guests!”

A very suave voice had sounded from behind them. Cerberus reluctantly put down Fluttershy (whose mane was completely lopsided) back safely on the ground and panted in excitement towards the sound of the voice.

The figure that stood before them was dressed in a burgundy red suit with a large v-cut starting from his neck down to about half his chest, his fur was pale blue, and his mane was shortly cut and a burning fire orange colour. His face was adorned with a goatee and a chin strap and he had a very quaint look on his face as he reveled in the sight of the newcomers.

“I am terribly sorry, my puppy gets so excited every time when he meets new ponies! “ He trotted up to his ‘puppy’ and rubbed a hoof against its head.

“Puppy!?” Rarity whispered to Fluttershy who was still in high spirits and didn’t notice her.

“Ah, but where are my manners…” The pony said before striking a pose. “I’m Hades! Let me just say you are all going to have a FABULOUS time here!”

“Wait, don’t tell me. THAT’S Hades!?” Rainbow said with shock at how unimpressive he was quietly to Twilight. “He’s the ‘great and fearful’ ruler of Tartarus? He looks like any other normal pony! What a joke!” Apparently, Rainbow Dash had expected more from this god of the underworld.

“Hush Rainbow,” Twilight turned to her with a glare before looking back at Hades. “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. Me and my friends here—”

“OH CELESTIA! I haven’t heard that name in years even though we write to each other every other week. I really should invite her down here for some espresso and lava biscuits,” he said as he clapped his hoofs together with a smile.

The six could feel it in their head. The Princess, coming here!?  That doesn’t seem likely.

“So how about, I’ll give you all a quick tour of my 'home', by home I mean what you are currently standing on, and also place of ruling power, and we can talk about anything you want to talk about! It’s always fun to hear from ponies above ground compared to the usual screaming and wailing of suffering pain I have to sit through every day.”

They went silent. Rainbow Dash was still unimpressed.

“Great! So let’s start the tour… OH! And before I forget…” The ruler of the underworld cleared his throat.

“WELCOME TO TARTARUS!”