Bright Spark pitched himself down the path as fast as he possibly could. The child had been cryptic in her report on what she'd found, but her troubled voice was enough to spur him into action. Immediately, he'd broken away from the group and thrown caution to the wind, racing towards the area the filly had last been heard from. He hoped for the best but expected the worst. Really, what was he thinking, letting a filly trek off on her own in a place like this?! The pathway gave into a massive, rocky outcropping where Diamond was sitting quietly, gazing into the distance. Bright Spark was about to ask what was so important, that she couldn't bother describing it, but then he stopped, and he gazed too. His jaw dropped to the ground, and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Dear Celesta, that was impossible...
**********
Full Plate jaunted along the cavern corridors towards the place the Errant had mentioned. Slowly, the base of the path she'd taken came into view and he braced himself. He had taken point and the rest of the group followed tensely behind. They'd been prepared for battle. A demon of nightmares waiting for them; some sort of wretched monstrosity he wasn't prepared to deal with. He did not, however, expect to find a vast and sprawling city.
The cavern widened out from the outcropping and opened up into a massive, complex of structures. Scores of buildings dominated his vision and stretched far into the depths of the massive cavern. On closer look, the buildings seemed to be carved out of stalactite and stalagmite and all of them flaunted an intimidating gothic architecture.
The buildings were cracked and broken and covered in a thick sheet of what looked like rust. It smothered over everything, absolutely everything, from the floors to the ceilings to the walls. One by one his companions slowly joined him, and like Full Plate, they too found their mouths hanging open. Who could have expected an entire city deep underground?! What was its purpose?! What was it doing here?! Who built it?! As if able to read the minds of the Night Crew, Nettleglum shuffled herself to the head of the group and pointed out towards the buildings.
"Ahh, the city of Tartarus. This place was built for lodging," Nettleglum explained, shuffling herself slowly towards the path, where it descended down into the city below.
"Lodging?" Bright Spark asked, who was quick to follow, trotting along nervously after her. She headed towards the nearest building to her and nodded her head towards him.
"Yes, lodging. Some of the lines for the attractions here can get dreadfully long," Nettie said, poking her head into what looked like an abandoned shop. Bright Spark opened his mouth to call Nettie out on her obvious raging insanity but fell short when Diamond's voice called out from up ahead. She'd gone skittering past while Nettleglum was talking, but he'd paid little attention to her.
"Over here guys!" she called out. She was sitting in front of a large looking slab of concrete that stood upright like a statue might in a park, or in a town center. Laying in the middle of the slab was a stallion as tall as Celestia and built as thick as Big-Mac. He was chained to the rock in various ways creating a monument of sorts and seemed entirely immobile. He was adorned by a single vulture, sitting atop his prone form and endlessly pecking at his flesh which seemed to heal itself over the moment the last shred of meat was torn away. Diamond made a face and paled. That poor vulture was forced to eat the same meal over and over again. She could only imagine what kind of terrible bird related horror that vulture must have inflicted to deserve such a fate. Truly, this was a place of nightmares.
"Hey...buddy....you okay? " Diamond asked nervously. She had meandered over to the stallion's head, looking up at him with wide blue eyes of hers. Bright Spark groaned at the almost painful ignorance of the girl, while the behemoth stallion looked down at Diamond with curiosity. He considered her question, then shrugged his shoulders.
"I endure," he groaned quietly. The silver filly simply nodded her head politely. To be honest, she'd been talking to the vulture, but the bird hadn't responded.
With all the horrors swirling around her in Tartarus, Diamond Dancer still found that she froze when she felt the icy clutch of Nettleglum's hoof on her shoulder. Nettie drew the girl to one side and out of the way and allowing her to shuffle into view of the stallion. He looked down at her, too, but his eyes widened in a spark of recognition. Nettie offered what Diamond would very, very hesitantly consider a 'smile' and stepped next to the tortured stallion.
"Nettleglum? Of the Grimdark clan? By the princesses..." the large pony mumbled in disbelief. Nettleglum gave her head a slow, creaking nod and turned towards the group.
"This is Prometheus. He was here when I was but a filly ages and ages ago. He held a bonfire so popular they awarded him his own retirement rock and pet vulture," Nettleglum said sullenly like she were the world's most unenthusiastic tour guide. Prometheus looked like he were ready to reply, or perhaps more accurately argue by the look on his face, but Diamond's squeaky little voice cut him off before he could get a word out.
"That's great and all but we're kinda in a rush. Have you seen, like, a really tall dark blue mare around here? She's the princess of the night, her hair is the universe, and she has this look in her eye like she might go completely insane at any moment, " Diamond squeaked, pressing herself passed Nettieglum to look up at Prometheus hopefully.
"Thy princess is deep within Tartarus, down below in the farthest reaches. Proceed with caution, little ponies, for thy party is mortal. Thy princess hath laid low Atlas and chained him again in his place, and dealt swiftly with Lavan but has not yet caught Tethys and Grogar remains free. Turn back now, lest you would have such horrors befall you," he said The vulture, profoundly indifferent to company, continued gnawing. Diamond shook her head in stark defiance and made it a point to stroll past Prometheus as if his warning were a personal insult to her.
"Don't care who's in the way. The mission is still secure the princess," she snapped, marching ahead. As far as she was concerned, Princess Luna was down in the darkest, furthest reaches of Tartarus, ergo, it only stood to reason that's where she was headed next. The trapped stallion watched the filly spirit herself off, before turning back towards Nettleglum.
"The Flesh Foals have bred beyond belief. Take great care in venturing forth. Thy princess will not be so easily returned to the surface. She carries upon her a great weight. Meanwhile, the Crimson Maiden battles Arimaspi and the war they wage shakes at the foundation of Tartarus itself. A war for power is at hoof, and that is a danger even for the Grimdark clan," the stallion groaned gravely to Nettleglum. Dinky had to admit, for being endlessly tortured, he was fairly articulate. Nettleglum shuffled forward, pointing to where Diamond had ventured off on her own.
"I do believe it best to inform miss Dancer of the situation post haste. I do hate to cut our reunion so short, but my dark princess must resume her duties. Enjoy your vulture," Nettleglum intoned, dragging herself away from the massive slab where Prometheus watched her go. A grin drifted across his lips, regardless of the endless pain. He hadn't seen Nettleglum in what felt like centuries.