//------------------------------//
// Fallen World 
// Story: (j)oy and (k)indness 
// by Silver Letter 
//------------------------------//

There was nothing in this land which could be described as beauty. The arid heat reflected from the abyss magnified the treachery of the underworld, Tartarus itself. It was a land of pain and misery. 

Twilight Sparkle had been led into a vile trap. Her head faltered in both shame and embarrassment. Cozy Glow, her most trusted young student, whose attendance truly turned her school into the beacon it had become, had turned against them. Cruel! False!

Tirek, locked in his cage, stood in an aura of unbelievable arrogance, considering his circumstances. His fiery red marble eyes gazed from his stone cage, reminding her of the evil battle fought long ago. 

“I told you…you are all but helpless,” Tirek said with a brilliant grin. “Try to run…there is nowhere to hide!”

“I refused to surrender against you, if you recall. No pony or creature will stop us,” Twilight replied. 

“The magic has been sapped from your world. Her plan was perhaps as brilliant as mine! What could you possibly do to stop her?!” Tirek boasted. 

“I don’t know…but I will find a way.”

The six ponies went to the entrance to Tartarus, now sealed shut. She was upset, but he was right. Her body felt withered away, empty. Nopony could physically open the massive gates. 

All around them, she saw majestic creatures locked away, some vile like the Chimera. She hadn’t thought about it before…how easy it was for Celestia to act as banisher, sending anything away which constituted a threat to her subjects. Yet, the cages piled together made her basic duty so clear. She had banished so many. Even her sister met such a fate…only marginally different from the dark and cruel land she had set upon. Had all these creatures deserved it? What would Fluttershy think? The yellow mare now sat with her wings folded, a gleam of tears in her eyes. 

“What’s gotten into you, Twilight?” Applejack implored. “I’ve not seen you this out of it since you got captured by Tempest Shadow…”

Twilight shuddered as she thought of her friend. “Ah, Tempest…I wonder how she is faring now? Has she even lost her magic?” 

“I doubt any of us has escaped what has transpired,” Rarity said sadly. “Whether it is us, the princesses at Canterlot, Tempest, Starswirl, Radiant Hope…who could stop this disaster?”

“I feel lost…like after everything we’ve done, we may end up no more than just another addition to this horrible mystical prison,” Twilight said. 

“Hey, don’t knock it. Remember, these are dangerous animals. We got rid of them for a reason,” Rainbow Dash reminded her. 

Twilight sighed. “Is it truly?”

She observed the creatures as they chewed on the cages, walked in circles and languished in silence. Some could speak and some could not. Fluttershy could speak to any animal. To her, all creatures had feelings. Every creature had a reason to live.