//------------------------------// // Not What They Seem // Story: Prisoners of the Heart // by KidatHeart5 //------------------------------// There they were…the Gates of Tartarus. That dreadful entrance into what many called the hellhole where evil resided. Only few ponies dared to march past the gates and managed to return unscathed. Those who were less fortunate either emerged with their bodies and/or minds altered, or never came back at all. It was enough to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of anyone’s heart. The rescue party was certainly brave, but they were far from fearless. They knew danger lurked behind those gates and there was a good chance they might not all make it out. Still, they were willing to try, for the sake of Equestria…and their family. Blaze, feeling a little intimidated, asked the team, “I know we’re supposed to do this, but if you could back out, would you?” Everyone but Discord responded, “Nay.” Discord raised his hand and said, “Aye.” Everyone glared at him, causing him to smile sheepishly. He told them, “Well, it’s not too late to back out now! I’ll just let you guys take care of business and –“ Cadance firmly spoke, “Discord, the Cutie Map sent us here. We’re all going in together.” Nova Rose cleared her throat, “So, *ahem*…who’s going first?” Twilight stepped forward and said resolutely, “I will. I’ll open the door and make sure the coast is clear.” Just then, the right door creaked open a bit. Mischief, clearly disturbed by what he saw, said quickly, “Or the door could just open by itself with no malicious intent at all.” Blaze told his colleagues, “Don’t you see?! This is just like a horror film! Someone goes in a dark, creepy corner and they don’t come out again! It’s usually the funny man that goes first so the characters don’t have something to cheer them up.” Discord sighed as he put on a polka-dotted bow tie, “I suppose that would be me, then.” As he flashed three yards in front of the gates, Nova Rose whispered worriedly, “No, wait, Discord! What are you doing?!” He turned towards the group and explained, “Well, it’s like Blaze said: the funny man goes first. Hence, I’m going first.” He was about to approach the doors until he said uneasily, “Eh…Want me to tell one last joke before I go in?” Sunset deadpanned, “That was it.” He sputtered, “What? That wasn’t even – RRURRGH! Fine!” He muttered agitatedly as he walked towards the gates. Fear started to replace his anger as he got nearer to the doors. He stopped in his tracks and stared at the massive and eerie entrance. He gulped in nervousness before he crept forward. As he put his paw on the right door and started opening it a bit more, he sang softly, “Sneaking ‘round the corner…” Suddenly, an unseen force sucked him in. “AAAHH!” The team gasped at the abrupt development. The Guardians were about to rush to the gates when Twilight outstretched her wings to block them. “Hold on!” she instructed. “It could be a trick.” Discord’s voice rang out from the inside, “IN WHAT UNIVERSE WOULD I PLAY A TRICK THAT INVOLVES BEING SUCKED INTO TARTARUS?!” Twilight facehoofed as she corrected, “Not you! The Pony of Shadows!” Sunset called out, “Can you get out?!” Discord’s answer came, “NO! TELL FLUTTERSHY, SCREWBALL, AND ODDBALL I LOVE THEM! I SHOULD PROBABLY MENTION MOTHBALL, TOO! HE’S LIKE THE SON I NEVER HAD! OR…WELL, MISCHIEF IS THAT MORE. BUT MY POINT IS -” Twilight shouted, “Okay, okay! We’re coming!” As the team charged towards the gates, Blaze said dramatically, “Goodbye, sunshine! Goodbye, plants! Goodbye, Nova! I will always love you!” Nova Rose snapped, “I’m coming with you, idiot!” Just as suddenly as Discord was sucked in, so too were the rest of the team pulled in abruptly against their will. When there was no one left outside, the door shut with a loud clank. When everypony recovered from the adrenaline rush, they could feel the cold air hanging over the place of despair. Lonely colors of cyan and threatening colors of dark magenta gave Tartarus its jarring appearance. The jagged rocks and crystal outcrops made it feel alien and desolate. The very depth of the prison seemed to go on forever with no end in sight. In here, the team had to watch their every step. “All right, let’s go over the plan again,” Twilight said. “We find the Royal Sisters, stop the Pony of Shadows, find a way out, and go home.” Discord remarked sarcastically, “Stellar plan! Let’s hope there are absolutely no hitches at all.” Flurry Heart asked Cadance, “Mom, do you have Grandma’s sister bracelet?” Cadance then pulled out a bracelet with blue and violet beads. “Right here.” Sunset pulled out a bracelet comprising yellow, orange, and pink beads. “I got Mom’s.” Twilight then levitated the bracelets to her. “Great. Now we just need to put a tracking spell on them.” She enveloped the jewelry in a bright glow for about a few moments. Nova Rose asked, “So, how long do you think it’ll take to find them?” Suddenly, the bracelets were encased in red and cyan auras and they flew upwards until they fell into the hooves of two pony silhouettes standing on a cliff. “One second,” a familiar voice said slyly. The silhouettes stepped out of the shadows and the team could see a tall whitish alicorn in orange and yellow armor and a shorter, darker alicorn with blue armor. When the two lifted their heads, their fanged smiles and hellish eyes sent shockwaves through the group, who instantly recognized them. Blaze breathed, “No way.” Nightmare Moon smiled, “Well, well, well, well, well. The rescue party’s finally here, Daybreaker.” Daybreaker then grinned evilly, “Yes, they have…12 hours too late.” Cadance said with a hint of despair in her voice, “It can’t be.” Nightmare Moon chuckled before she responded, “Oh, but it can be, and it is.” Daybreaker flaunted her mane as she stated, “We got new styles and a few new toys –“ her voice then soured “- that will end the notion of ‘happily ever after’ ONCE AND FOR ALL!” Mischief then spoke, “Whoa, whoa! Hold on there!” He added in a cheesy yet uneasy tone to try to appeal to her empathy, “You know Sombra wouldn’t want –“ The alicorn’s fiery mane flared up into a column as she shouted, “Don’t ever mention that lowlife worm AGAIN!” When her magic knocked Mischief off his hooves, the rescue party got ready to defend themselves while Flurry raced to her husband’s side. Nightmare Moon told them, “You’ll soon realize that life isn’t a fairy tale like you paint it.” Daybreaker said in a mock-sweet tone, “Speaking of fairy tales, I just love that part where the maiden rides off into the sunset –“ her voice then morphed into a snarl “- with everyone she ever loved still with her.” Nightmare Moon then jumped down from the cliff as she sang, “That's right, we lived the story over and over again…Gee, it's swell to finally make some darker friends…” Daybreaker sang as she taunted the group by messing with them, “That's right, we lived the story, don't really like how it ends...Gee, it's swell to finally make some darker friends…” She then breathed out a wall of fire that surrounded the team. Cadance sang, “What did the fiend say to you? What did he say?” Nova Rose sang, “What did the fiend do to you? What did he do?” Twilight sang, “Did he play mind games on you? What did he play?” Daybreaker sang before lunging at them, “Don’t you get it? Our time as good girls is officially through!” The sisters sang as they apprehended the group with tendrils of magic and pulled them together, “Oh, that's right we lived the story over and over again…” They then leapt back onto the cliff as they finished, “Gee, it's swell to finally make some darker friends…” The group groaned as they recovered from the sisters’ attack. Blaze grunted, “They’re running circles around us!” Discord scowled, “I’m rusty. Give me a break!” Flurry asked Twilight in worry, “Aunt Twilight, what are we going to do? They’ve been corrupted!” Nightmare Moon snickered, “Did you hear that, sister? They think we’ve been corrupted!” The evil sisters laughed wickedly at this. Daybreaker sang in a tone that suggested the idea of corruption was ridiculous, “Corrupted? Corrupted? What are you even saying?” She then grew angry as she sang, “I'm the loser of the game of life everyone is playing!” Nightmare Moon sang, “Let's play another game, this time we get to win…” As she sang the verse, she and Daybreaker conjured up two small sticks that each had a disk: one resembled the sun (Daybreaker) and the other resembled the crescent moon (NMM). When the sticks elongated into staffs, Daybreaker sang, “Lives on the line…” NMM sang as the sun’s rays spun into a ring of red light and an irregularly-shaped disk of purple light emerged from the moon disk to complete the circle, “Winner takes all…” The sisters spun their scythes as they sang, “Ready or not…Let's begin!” Daybreaker sang as she and her sister continually lunged at the group and swung the scythes, “Oh, that's right we lived the story over and over again…Gee, it's swell to finally beat our former friends…” As the sisters circled around the group and created fire and smoke in their wake, NMM sang, “Oh, that's right we lived the story, don't really like how it ends…Gee, it's swell to finally beat our former…” Daybreaker sang as the sisters hovered high above the chaos, “Former…” Both sisters sang as they swooped in for the kill, “Former…” SWING! “Friends…” In one strike, the sisters wounded their enemies. However, the heroes’ wounds were not like regular wounds, but rather made of light. Those struck by the Sun Scythe had a wound of red light while the wounds left by the Moon Scythe glowed purple light. Before any of them could react, they disappeared in puffs of smoke. POOF-POOF-POOF! Everyone groaned from their newfound dizziness and blurry vision when they came to. Nova Rose mumbled, “What…happened to us?” Twilight gave a small grunt as she slowly stood up, “It has something to do with those scythes. I don’t know what they did to us, but they did something.” When Blaze regained his senses, his eyes shrunk in shock. “Something like sending us deep into Tartarus?” After the others could function properly again, they saw that he was right. They were in a new area, one much darker and more foreboding. The mist at their hooves added to the ominous atmosphere. Suddenly, there was an assortment of unearthly sounds such as crazed laughter and moans of despair. This freaked out the rescue party more than they thought they would be. Flurry suggested, “Maybe we’re in the prison area.” Discord nodded uneasily, “Yes. That’s most certainly it.” To everyone’s surprise, a loud voice cut through the air. “SILENCE!” All seemed to be quiet again and the group anxiously looked around for the source of the shout. Sunset spoke up, “Who are you? Show yourself!” “As you wish,” came the reply. At that moment, a cage appeared amidst blue rocks high in the silhouette of a spire. The heroes could not see the figure within the cage, but they cautiously tread up the path on the spire to the prison cell. Even as they edged closer to the cage, they still couldn’t see the figure, whose silhouette suggested his back was turned. The figure said, “I know what those scythes did to you.” Cadance said in a serious tone, “Then tell us.” “They were created to disable teleportation. The effects of such a scythe prevent you from traveling at all, but if one’s emotions are strong, they can teleport themselves to a random place. As for the one who has the scythe, they can control where you’ll end up when they strike you.” Mischief asked, “How do you know that?” “Because…” he turned to face them, “I created them.” The group was stunned to see that it was none other than the treacherous Grogar, with an evil smirk on his face. Blaze accused him, “So you’re the one who corrupted Celestia and Luna!” “I have only a small part in the grand scheme of the Pony of Shadows, and that was supplying him with the blueprints for the scythes. I will be free in my own time, and it will be then that I shall conquer all of Equestria.” Discord scoffed, “Ha! Fat chance of that, you old goat.” Grogar growled, “RRGH! That insipid nickname has persisted all these years. I am a ram, the most powerful ram in the history of the world. Now, I suppose you want to tell me your names. No need.” He then pulled out from behind him a crystal ball that oddly looked like Arimaspi’s eye. “I have seen your lives through my crystal ball. I know everything that’s happened in your lives…” He then gave a sinister grin, “…including the death of your father.” He continued in mock-disappointment, “Such a shame, really. I was looking forward to dueling him one last time…but I suppose his offspring will do.” Sunset glowered at him, “You can try, but we will stop you in the end.” “You are too much like your upright mother. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof, has the same potential as her father once did before he turned on me.” Twilight determinedly stated, “You will never corrupt me, not like how you almost corrupted Sombra.” Grogar gave a hearty laugh before he said, “I never corrupted Sombra. He did that himself.” Everyone was concerned and a little confused at this information. Sunset asked, “What do you mean?” The ram explained, “You know the story of King Iron Hoof, the first king of the Kingdom of Canterlot?” Nova Rose recited the story, “He fell in love with a mysterious seductress. They never married, but they had a son named Greystreak. When Greystreak became of age to sit on the throne, he was overthrown and exiled by Arimaspi so he –“ “Stop. Only one of those events is accurate. He was exiled by Arimaspi, but the monster didn’t overthrow him. That was the ponies’ doing. His subjects turned on him because they were frightened of his powers. I never rejected those powers when I saw them in his son when he first came to Canterlot hundreds of years later. The kingdom may have been Sombra’s birthright, but the magic he fought against was also his birthright.” Twilight breathed in dread, “What?” “You see, when he bit the golden apple, he didn’t wish to be restored. He wished to become a full pony like his grandfather had been. Lilyth was no ordinary mistress. She was an Umbrum.” Everyone’s eyes shrunk in raw shock. Sunset could barely bring herself to speak, “Then…that means…” Grogar smiled and nodded, “Yes. Greystreak was Umbrum-born. So too was Sombra and so too are you and so too will future generations. No matter how many branches your family tree will grow, that tiny sliver of Umbrum magic will always be there, flowing through your veins.” Twilight’s head was spinning and her heartbeats thundered in her chest. That couldn’t be right! Good was good! Evil was evil! How could her father be so inherently altruistic while inheriting such dark magic? Did that mean he was truly evil on the inside? Did that mean she was, too? “No…It’s not true…That’s impossible!” Grogar told her, “Remember the curse your father was inflicted with? It was never meant to instill darkness. It was to bring it out.” Twilight suddenly had a revelation. If Sombra had evil inside him all along, that would explain why Sombra stole Starlight’s phoenix when his wife grew ill. If he committed that atrocity before she was born, how many more could he have done before he married her mother? Twilight’s eyes started welling up with tears and she abruptly ran down the spire. Sunset cried as she chased after her twin, “Twilight, wait!” The others ran after the two until they reached the ground. It was then that the amber unicorn concentrated very hard on her magic and managed to teleport a few feet in front of her sister. “Twilight!” she pleaded. When her sister passed her by, Sunset turned and shouted, “TWILIGHT, STOP!” The queen whipped her body around as she answered very angrily, “NO! HE LIED TO US! HE LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING!” Her horn unconsciously sent a small shockwave that sent Sunset and the others a few inches away. Her voice then became laced with betrayal, “He held our hooves, looked us right in the eyes, and told us to never question who we are as princesses! We never questioned ourselves, or him!” Sunset tried to calm her, “We couldn’t have known!” “No! You couldn’t have known! You never grew up with us in the palace! You never knew our father!” The last sentence stung Sunset’s heart more than any insult ever could. It also fed her doubts and fears about not belonging with her family. She breathed in a hurt tone, “Twilight…” Twilight, little realizing how she affected Sunset, continued her tirade. “But we never looked into him! We trusted him. We let him make fools of us all!” As her twin started to run off again, Sunset chased after her, pleading more earnestly, “Twilight, wait!” Mischief was about to go after them. “Guys!” He was stopped when Cadance stretched out her wing to block him and she shook her head. When Twilight stopped again, Sunset told her, “Please! Let’s just stay calm and talk about this! Let’s just talk.” Twilight responded as a tear rolled down her cheek and her horn began to glow, “Talk about what? How our whole heritage was based on a lie? What else is there to say?” In a flash, she was out of sight. Sunset slumped to the ground and began to weep. Blaze ran to her side and breathed, “Mom.” No one dared to speak, not even Discord. The revelation about Sombra had rocked them to the core. Nova Rose said, “We need to find Twilight before the sisters and the Pony of Shadows do.” Discord answered, “Well, let me see if the rest of my magic is working properly.” He was about to snap his fingers when suddenly, black goo erupted from the ground and encased his talon. The others turned around to see this happen. In a split second, another column of black goo erupted and encased his lion paw. When more tendrils of black goo quickly wrapped around his torso, he shouted, “HELP ME!” Before anyone could act, he was sucked into the ground and had virtually disappeared. Blaze commented in a stunned tone, “What do you know? The funny guy did go first.” Nova and Mischief chastised him, “Shut up!” Cadance told the remainder of the group, “Okay, we need to split up and search for Twilight and Discord.” When she turned her head, she saw Sunset Shimmer heading off on her own. “Sunset, come back! We need to stick together!” “You guys can stick together. I’m going to look for Twilight. She’s my twin.” Blaze said, “There’s gotta be a more plausible reason than that!” Sunset’s voice became sterner, “I’m doing this alone! No one is to follow me! Understand?! When there was no protest, Sunset was about to go off again when Blaze said, “Mom? I love you.” Her face softened as she replied, “Love you, too, kiddo.” Without another word, she left the group and ran into the unknown.