//------------------------------//
// Chapter 31 - Liberation 
// Story: Fear Within 
// by VirtualCipher 
//------------------------------//

Words had left Celestia, the life in her eyes went dull, almost as if her entire soul had departed from within her. She felt her stomach tightening and throbbing, anxiety now clouding her. Even though the alicorn looked lifeless, in shock, her eyes remained targeted on Fright who didn't even show a shred of remorse to the terror he had just unleashed. Slowly, he lifted his gaunt finger from the core mechanism of the pit, resting it by his side. The moment the harrowing noise orchestrated through the pit, it added to the tension Celestia was carrying. Loud and distressing, the pit's siren was more of a demonic roar, being relieved from a behemoth who had just woken up unpleasantly.

"What have you done..." Celestia mumbled, letting dread take her voice. "What have you done?!" She shouted in indignation.

Heavily panting, still trying to recover from her outbreak, Twilight was focused on Fright, scared to go near him, but wanting wrath for what he's done. Despite feeling mixed signals, she displayed fear on her face. Tears were still noticeable on her face, marking her cheeks in a slide of grief.

Promptly, Shining Armour rose from the ground and directed himself towards Fright, ready to lunge at him. At an alarming speed, he was unexpectedly forced back as Chrysalis fired a wave of energy at him.

"Shining!" Twilight cried. 

Scraping along the ground, set back to where he was before charging at Fright, he simply let out a groan that consisted of pain and anger.

Approaching Fright, standing tall and with a smirk she presented, her horn illuminated, piercing her enemies' vision as she raised a spherical barrier over herself and the twisted alchemist. 

Celestia fired a wave of magic at the barrier, but nothing, not even crack was displayed. Instead, the barrier absorbed her magic and fired back at her, knocking her back a little as she released a cry of pain. Rushing to their ruler's side, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity steadied Celestia and helped her back up.

"Well, it's been a lot of fun, catching up," Chrysalis sneered. "But I think it's high time we leave this hellhole. Until next time, ta-ta." 

In a bright flash, bursting into nothingness, Chrysalis had teleported herself out of the pit along with Fright. The two vandals vanished from Celestia's sight, leaving nothing but their treacherous deeds behind. Being washed over in intense silence, Twilight couldn't believe what had happened. She wanted to scream, not in terror, but in frustration. If it wasn't for the anxiety attack Twilight had just faced, she would have screamed, but her mouth had nearly withered, losing her voice. Chrysalis and Fright had escaped once again.

With the queen and alchemist erased from the picture, Celestia rushed to the control core of the pit, desperately trying to restore Tartarus' security, to allow the flow of magic to travel back into the prison, but it was futile. The glow around the core faded until it became grey, almost as if its light died out and despite it being an object, some sort of mechanism, it looked like it had lost its life. 

"No..." Celestia whispered. "No!" She repeated, but this time for all to hear. Her voice was in a mix of dread and anger.

"What's... What's happening?" Rarity asked, however, she feared for the answer.

With the manic screaming and the insane laughter growing louder by the second, the magic within the pit, around the cells that hardened the iron bars started to fade.

"Why... Why isn't it working?" Celestia locked a look of fear as the sound of worriment began to clog her breathing. "Why isn't it working?!" She proclaimed in frustration, trying desperately to fill the core with her own magic, trying to restore Tartarus' security with every bit of magic and energy she had.

Suddenly, the sound of a rather loud bang was heard, echoing through the put. It was then followed by an atrocious scream. Turning to their left, they watched one of the prisoners, a filthy spider-like freak crash through its bars. With its four eyes darting towards the ponies, it simply let out a hiss as its legs began to stretch and crawl down the pit's walls, hurrying towards its prey. Tartarus' first prisoner had escaped.

"Princess, we have to go!" Shining Armour advised, keeping his allies secured.

"No!" Celestia panicked. "I can fix this! This needs to be fixed!"

Multiple sounds of banging were clustering over each other as the prisoners broke free from their cold, cramped cells with no magic to restrict them. 

As one of the prisoners got close, aiming for Applejack they watched this one crawl on two hands while dragging its long body, devoid of any legs, just a bony, spiky tail. Leaping towards her, Shining Armour acted quick, using his magic to set a barrier around Applejack, causing the creature to feel a shocking wave of discomfort as it was forced back.

"Run!" Shining Armour alerted.

With a look of fright washing over Rarity's face, her blood ran cold when she watched Tartarus' prisoners, crawl, slither and even jump from their burrowed cells. In her shocked state, she failed to move. Luckily for her, Applejack lent a hoof, pushing her to run. 

With great speed, Rainbow Dash headed for the arch, she watched Applejack and Rarity exit the pit and followed. Beginning to back away, Shining Armour was doing his best to maintain the situation, forcing the prisoners back with his magic while defending those who escaped. 

Quickly, adrenaline and anxiety rushing through her, Celestia refused to break her focus from the core.

"Princess! We need to go now!" Shining Armour shouted.

"I...  failed... I failed..." Celestia mumbled, almost looking lifeless. 

Promptly, like a barricade, Shining Armour placed himself between the princess and the core, lightly pushing himself against his mentor. 

"You need to move now." He forced, managing to turn Celestia around and aiming her to the exit.

What made matters worse, just as he thought Celestia and the others were safe, he noticed Twilight, remaining still in the exact same place when she attacked him due to fear spells corrupting her thoughts and vision. 

Shocked, the alicorn's wing went limp as she observed the pit, failing to realise that she was in danger. 

"Twilight!" Celestia shouted.

Just as multiple creatures began near towards the suspended alicorn, Shining Armour began to levitate his sister, pulling her back from the creatures that were ready to ruthlessly attack her. Grabbing her, gripping her back into this new, frightening world, he hopped in front of her, fight off the beasts that thirsted for blood.

"Go!" He ordered.

Snapping back to reality, her eyes wobbling madly from left to right, she began to back away; retreating to the pit's exit. With Celestia waiting, she watched the two ponies exit the pit, not before Twilight turned back to the arch.

Glowing bright, free from The Hunter's curse, she focused greatly on her magic to create a small barricade, structured from her magic that fitted perfectly into the arch's gap. 

Like a wave, the prisoners, creatures, all the monsters that were exiled to this hellhole, hit themselves against Twilight's barrier, pushing and barging themselves against it. Like a river, all of them flowed past each other, hurting and biting one another to try and escape. They were like ants, crawling over each other in a colony. Watching this happen only made Twilight feel sick. 

One prisoner bashed their head against the magic formed the barrier, cracks beginning to form.

"They'll break through any moment, we need to move, both of you, now!" Shining Armour ordered. 

"We... We lost..." Twilight mumbled.

"We need to go now!" Shining Armour ordered, nearly shouting. 

It didn't take long for both princesses to turn away from the arch, Shining Armour followed and they continued on their path through the Tartarus' corridors. Their breath began to overload their lungs as they ran, that and with the recent events going on with Twilight's panic attack, they felt this new world of fear crashing down on them. 





Within a flash, Chrysalis and Fright had teleported to the changelings' flying fortress that had now departed from Tartarus. Still clenching onto his slight-charred hand, Fright looked at it with interest, intrigued that it was the Princess of Friendship who had unleashed such wrath upon him. 

Like a pair of swords directing towards his position, Chrysalis' eyes ensnared him. With her sharp teeth being revealed, she shouted, "Are you insane?" Realising what she had just said, the queen withdrew her question. "No, don't answer that." Her voice rattled in discontent. "I thought that vile poison of yours was supposed to make them weak and scared, so do indulge me on why Twilight Sparkle nearly tore that prison's pit to shreds?!" 

Aware of the queen's irritated voice and desperate questions, Fright's focus remained on his hand. "She was scared." He simply answered. "Fear had corroded her will, she was losing herself in terror's grip." For a moment, a grin engraved on his disarrayed face. "Her outburst was stunning." Looking up from his hand that was slightly irking with discomfort, his eyes met with Chrysalis. "The Princess of Friendship's defiance was unexpected, yet astounding to witness. For so long, I have never seen such a frightened soul clutch onto her life like that."

Confused by his reaction, Chrysalis growled as she leaned closer towards the alchemist, "Your breakout is complete. I assisted you in making it become a reality, now it's time for my piece of the bargain."

"I am no hindrance to that," Fright told. 





Stalking her, the cold crept by, biting Holly as she waited just outside Tartarus' unpleasant, bloodcurdling entrance, on the deck of a lone airship she arrived in when taking up the responsibility to protect this place from any intruders or threats. Oddly enough, these memories she visioned when arriving here with Shining Armour and the rest of her allies felt like it was ages ago. After tonight, a lot has happened. 

Somewhat disappointed that she couldn't convince her allies to stand with her to protect their home, Holly was desperate to head back into the prison, to do what she could to help Shining Armour and the princesses, however, due to her being the only one with experience as a pilot, she needed to stay safe. Her head banged with insults that cursed her, she wished they would have listened, she wished she would have done something... 

Despite being lonely, she remembered seeing the horde of changelings evacuate the prison and lift off in that flying vessel of theirs. She didn't catch any visuals of Chrysalis or Fright, not even that Hunter which grew questions. Until further activity, she stayed alert and on guard for any threats. Deep down, she prayed that she would find her allies come out of the prison first instead of the prisoners. 

In this state of concentration, trying her best to not let the daunting, badlands get to her, she felt her ears pick up to the sound of screaming, someone screaming her name. On high alert, the Pegasus brought herself to the side of the ship and narrowed her eyes, trying to see what was calling her. To her surprise, she lifted a smile when she noticed the three ponies exit the prison, however, her smile faded when she witnessed the dread and panic on their faces.

What felt like an eternity to Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity finally exited the prison, their hearts nearly thumping out of their chests, same went with Dash and she flew her way out. Finally, approaching the side of the airship, Rarity was ready to collapse but refused to left the filthy, terrain go anywhere above her hooves. Applejack caught her breath while Rainbow Dash zoomed up to Holly.

"Wh-"

Before Holly could even get a word out, Rainbow Dash was quick to trespass on her speaking and bring herself face to face, pulling her close, their eyes connecting.

"No time to explain, start the ship, the prisoners' have escaped!"

"What?!" Holly exclaimed as she winced from Rainbow Dash's alarmed gaze. "Where are the princesses, where's Shining Armour?!" 

"What are you talking about, they're right-" The hovering pegasus stopped herself from talking when she saw no sign of Twilight, Celestia or even Shining Armour. Upon realising that they weren't there, Rainbow Dash's mouth nearly hit the ground, immediately thinking the worse.

Yelling from the airship, down to Applejack and Rarity, she shouted, "AJ, Rarity! Where are the others?!"

Applejack and Rarity exchanged a look of panic, feeling confusion and dismay brimming their mind as they realised with Rainbow Dash that the two princesses along with Shining Armour did not accompany them through their escape from the prison. Instantly, they feared the worst as every troubling thought came crashing down on them, hoping they hadn't left them to face the horrid creatures dwelling in that facility. 

"They..." Rarity took a moment to catch her breath. "They were right behind us, we all fled the moment Shining Armour told us to run."

"We can't just leave them in there," Applejack told, growing worried. "We have to go back."

"Applejack, you can't be serious," Rarity argued back. "If you go back in there, you'll-"

"Ah'm aware of what's happened and ah know what's waiting for me, but like ah said, we can't leave Twilight or her brother or the princess behind."

For a moment, Rarity felt insulted that Applejack would assume she would leave behind her friends. Displaying a look of disappointment, the unicorn argued back, "I would never suggest leaving them behind, I would never suggest leaving any of you behind. But if you charge in there, you might not find Twilight or the others, instead, you'll come face to face with ravaging brutes that hunger for our suffering!" 

"What other choice do we have?" Applejack questioned, running out of ideas. "We need to- Wait..." 

Her eyelids tightened down a little as she looked closely into the barely lit cave of Tartarus' entrance. Through the darkness of the prison's entrance that supplied many worrying thoughts on what now lurked in the insecure, unstable facility. Piercing the darkness, a faint light was seen. It was purple and the more Applejack focused on it, the more the light grew closer. 

From the darkness and the prison's jaws, Twilight emerged, bathing in the outdoors. Although the outside of the prison wasn't sirenic like her home, she was glad to feel free from Tartarus. It was unknown how long they were all in there, it felt like an eternity, but Twilight was glad to actually see and feel light even if it was just grey and gloomy, it was better than the darkness in the hellhole she escaped from. By her side, Celestia and Shining Armour followed. 

Promptly, Twilight reached Applejack and Rarity while Rainbow Dash hovered down from Holly's position. Upon seeing the three escape the prison, their thoughts cleared from any horrid happenings they imagined. For now, they were fine... Approaching her friends, Twilight caught her breath and finally stopped moving, she forgot what it was like to feel still.

"Thank goodness you're okay, Twi," Applejack allayed her worrying thoughts. "What happened? We thought you were right behind us."

"We feared the worst when we noticed your absence," Rarity informed, still a little shaken by the recent events. Pushing her back into the reality of the situation, the unicorn feared to ask, but forced out, "Are they still in there?"

Twilight heard well of Rarity's question, but she couldn't find the strength to answer. She couldn't even find the strength to look her friends in the eyes. Still breathing heavily, she almost felt like she had drowned. Quickly stepping in, Shining Armour answered.

"Twilight managed to block off their route but that won't hold them. We need to leave now." He ordered. 

"But..." For a moment, Rainbow Dash's voice paused as she began to realise the situation they were in, but still, she continued to finish her sentence. "But Equestria..." Worriment glazed over her eyes.

With a sigh, Shining Armour responded, although, he looked hurt breaking the news, "The Breakout is complete. There's nothing more we can do now but secure the rest of Equestria, place all cities, kingdoms on high alert."

"So we're running?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"I don't like it either, but-"

Promptly, Rainbow Dash objected to defeat and argued, "But the Princesses, Twilight and Celestia could contain them with their magic, even you, you just-"

"Celestia's magic is cut off due to The Hunter's power, who knows when that's going to wear off and I can't pull off another barrier and an enchantment spell again, not with the little time we have and not with the amount of pain I'm carrying," Shining Armour reasoned, raising his voice a little.

"And do ya think Twilight can pull off a spell like that after what just happened," Applejack approached, reasoning with the pegasus. "She's not lookin' too good."

"But if we just run now then that'll mean they've won!" Rainbow Dash argued. "Equestria will be terrorised and-"

"They've already won!" Shining Armour barked. "I hate to see it that way, believe me, I do. But staying here is suicide when our magic is weak and there's very few of us."

So much damage was done when Shining Armour confessed that they enemy won. It hurt Rainbow Dash to see it despite forcing herself to work out many roads to fix this mess. Her mouth forced to shut as her eyes lowered down to the ground, feeling cold and still like a statue.

Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one wanting to try and protect Equestria, Applejack and Rarity were thinking of ways as well, but fear crept up on their thoughts with the changelings gone and the prisoner's breaking free from their cages. Thick and everlasting, the silence could go for a year with the amount of terror that has just happened.

"Everypony onto the ship, we need to go now!" He declared. 

At first hesitant, Rainbow Dash wanted to hold her position, to fight. However, when she felt a slight tap against her wing, she turned to Applejack who looked worried, slightly concealing any fears brewing.

"Rainbow, we need to go. Stayin' here is just gonna endanger the lot of us and ah think you know that as well."

"I know, I just... I can't believe we lost..."

Losing her hope to carry on fighting, Rainbow Dash turned away from Shining Armour and aimed to the airship, her legs felt weak as her hooves lightly tapped the blank, desert-like ground. Whatever courage Dash had left was quickly replaced with anguish and it was shown in her eyes.

Applejack and Rarity exchanged looks of worriment and heartache, the fear of what would happen next was beginning to gnaw away at them. They proceeded to obey Shining Armour's order and accompanied Rainbow to the airship.

Watching the three distance themselves away from the captain, Shining Armour turned to his sister. Everything about Twilight's appearance was off. She looked exhausted in the eyes, hurt by the failure of protecting their home and scared by the poison that contaminated her vision and played with her fears. Slouching over a little, not wanting to look up from the barren land, she couldn't help but feel worse than before. 

Shining pulled his sister close to his chest, her own fluttering with a slight warmth as she felt his brother's embrace. However, this feeling did not last when she heard the terrorising shrieks from within prison get closer. It was at this moment, Twilight snapped out of her dazed, traumatised state and looked back to the prison's entrance. Discomfort collapsing over her along with her eyes widening in panic, her focus was disconnected from Tartarus entrance and towards her brother.

"Get to the ship, I'll get Princess Celestia," Shining Armour instructed.

Unable to speak, feeling anxiety grip her throat, all Twilight could do was follow her brother's command and head to the airship. As for Shining Armour, he was quick to approach Celestia who was, much like Twilight, lifeless. Her eyes aimed at the wide open, heavy, iron doors of Tartarus, disturbed that Fright and Chrysalis had won. 

Just before Shining Armour could speak, to try and pass through the anguish she was dealing with, Celestia spoke clearly and rather ghastly, her voice devoid of any emotion. 

"It wasn't meant to end like this... We were supposed to stop them..."

"And we will," Shining Armour declared. "Fright and Chrysalis have more planned, I know it."

"Equestria is going to have its life stripped away because I couldn't do what was necessary... How many are going to suffer because of me?" Celestia eyes slowly hovered down to the ground, her ears detecting the sound of horrific screams echoing through Tartarus' halls. "I should have stopped them... I should have done something!"

The sounds of the prisoners snapped Shining Armour to full alert, quickly facing Celestia. 

"Princess, please!" He pleaded. "We need to move."

"Yes... Of course..." Celestia sulked, her voice becoming monotone; blank.

Hopeless, allies and friends had been assaulted, scared and traumatised by the recent events of this breakout, the fear fog, Chrysalis' mockery and The Hunter's infiltration. Promptly, Celestia and Shining Armour entered the heavy airship and proceeded towards the deck. Quickly, Holly took the position as the pilot of the airship, although she wasn't the best at flying, she was adequate enough to fly everyone safely back to Canterlot. 

Despite its weight, the airship gently fluttered from the filthy landscape, almost like a butterfly retreating from a flower. On the deck, Twilight felt the same feeling the moment she had arrived. To think she came here after watching an announcement that had her friend tortured and tormented, and now she would leave, witnessing a breakout and knowing they suffered at the hands of horror. 

Everypony was scared.

So scared.

Needless to say, no one said a word the moment they left. No one was more desperate to leave Tartarus, but even when leaving, fear left with them. How long they had been there was unknown. Time had no order in such a nightmarish world. 

Stirring within her, Rarity could only feel dread at every thought of this new future that awaited. It began to speak while her heart ached. 

Applejack was lost in a swamp of her own thoughts, much like Rarity. Even if she wanted to, speaking right now wouldn't be the best option. After what they had faced, the silence was for the best.

Angered, no, furious, Rainbow Dash cursed herself for failing. This madness only added to the fuel for her hatred against Chrysalis, Fright and those who were against her as enemies. 

Twilight had isolated herself away from her friends, from her brother, from the princess. For the first time in her whole life, she was scared of herself, the way she acted up in the prison was something she could not comprehend. Colour had faded from her eyes, a damaged look was displayed through her blank expression. Deep down, she knew her friends would come to comfort her, but right now, she wished to be alone.

Princess Celestia and Shining Armour both watched the terrain of Tartarus slowly fade from their sight. Shattered, the Princess of Equestria began to malfunction when it came to forming a solution to this problem. Right now, all she could do was lose herself in desperation and anxiety.

His eyes still glued to Tartarus' eerie and bleak, barren land, he took notice of the broken spears, shattered tents and destroyed equipment caused by The Hunter. Despite floating through the clouds and at a great distance from Tartarus, it didn't stop his vision from witnessing the first prisoner set foot outside their cage, even if they were just a speck.

Shining Armour didn't need to do a double take. He knew who it was.