//------------------------------//
// Adventure Through Tartarus 
// Story: The Empire of Discord 
// by themultiversewatcher 
//------------------------------//

	In a dark room, four forms began to stir. Treble Clef, Lightning Dust, Roseluck and Nightchaser, after traveling through the portal from Earth, looked around themselves. The room, dimly lit with a red light, contained skulls and bones, all slightly burned, as though put through a furnace before settling to their rest. An ominous atmosphere surrounded the place, and the stench of rotting flesh and burned hair wafted through the large opening that served as the entrance to the dank chamber.
"Wow, this place smells bad," commented Nightchaser, or Chase as his friends referred to him as, "And it's absolutely filthy in here. Yo, Treble, where, exactly, are we? It's clearly not Equestria."
"I don't know," Treble admitted, "But, if I had to guess, I'd say a dragon's lair."
"But don't their caves usually have large amounts of treasure in them?" asked Lightning Dust.
"Yeah," answered Roseluck, "I think so. Hey, Dusty, where do you think we are?"
"Well, my guess would be Tartarus. It is, after all, canon that that place exists."
"Guys," Treble said, "If we're gonna get to Equestria, staying here won't help."
The four friends started to move towards the exit. Once outside, they found themselves surrounded by brimstone and piles of foul decay lay all over the ground. Further up, they could see a tree with no leaves, and hanging from said tree were ponies with their heads in nooses. A pained groan sounded from the grizzly sight, begging for a death that was never coming. They ran up the path towards the tree in order to try to help the poor pony. Once arriving, they could see a brown stallion with a yellow mane and tail swinging from a branch.
"Hey," said Treble, to catch the hanging pony's attention, "Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right to you?" the stallion responded, "I'm hanging from a tree, and all you can do is ask if I'm all right?"
"I'm sorry. That was a stupid question. Here, let me help you."
"Haha....you can't. I'm permanently stuck here. I'm being punished for killing myself. I couldn't take the horrible world created by Discord, not that this is much better. By the way, what are ponies like you doing in a place like this? You're clearly not being punished."
"We came here from another universe."
"Another universe? Don't make me laugh."
"He's serious," Dusty piped up, "We really did. How do you think we ended up here?"
"I don't know, missy, you could have stumbled from one of the entrances* and wound up stuck."
"One of the entrances?" asked Chase, "You mean there's more than one? I thought it only had one entrance, guarded by Cerberus."
"Yeah. Ponies die all over the world. How do you think they find their way here? They're certainly not gonna search the whole planet for the entrance."
"Wait wait wait," Treble said confusedly, "I thought Tartarus was this world's version of hell. Y'know, like, the place for eternal punishment? Why would every single dead pony end up here?"
"Hey, man," the stallion said, "I don't have all the answers. I do, however, know where the closest entrance to here. The next level should have an entrance, but first, you have to get past the guardian. I wish you good luck with that! Hahahahaha!"
With that, the stallion stopped talking. The group looked at each other questioningly, the stallion laughing hysterically all the while. With a silent nod between the four of them, they moved slowly away. Eventually, the pony disappeared from sight. Slowly, the ground began to incline, while the sea of brimstone, blood and corpses slowly began to transform into a dark and damp swampland, somehow not running into the area behind them. When the group stepped into the water, they noticed one eerie detail: the swamp was deathly silent. Not a single sound echoed throughout the vast cavernous space they found themselves in. Then, suddenly, the faint sounds of battle could be heard. As the friends stood there, the sound began to get louder.
"Um, guys," says Chase, pointing towards the source of the sound, "I think we'd better run! I don't want to be caught in that!"
Glancing in the direction indicated by Chase's hoof, they could see a massive battle, a war, really, sprawling out over the dark waters. It was all it took. Running or flying as fast as they could away from the chaos, the group was not looking where they were going. All of a sudden, Rose tripped over something in the water with a yelp. Treble took a glance back just in time to see what had happened. Under the water, staring back at the two ponies, was a ghostly white mare with a spectral green mane and tail. She simply stared at the travelers, as if waiting for their next move. Treble wasted no time in grabbing the mare, pulling her out of the muck. Slowed down by the added weight, the two armies were steadily gaining.
"Rose," he cried, "Help me!"
Shaking her head clear of all other thoughts, Rose quickly ran to Treble's side, picking up the mare's rear legs, and promptly restarted their flight. With the help of the alleviation of the mare, the threesome made quick progress. Chancing a look back, Treble noticed that the battle had started to move in a different direction. Panting, they caught up with the other two members of their little gang. They were in a small island of dead grass surrounded by small trees. Vultures sat in the scraggly, leafless branches, watching the five ponies, as if waiting for a potential meal. After what seemed like an eternity, the mysterious mare spoke up, her voice a rasping whisper.
"Why did you help me?" she asked slowly, "Nopony around here ever helps out. They're too busy fighting."
"I wasn't going to just leave you there," Treble replied, his voice kind and gentle, "You'd have gotten trampled."
"Yes. That is what happens. Either you fight, or you sink. There is no in between."
"That's horrible!" Rose gasped, "Why would anypony do that?"
"It's the way things are and have always been. I started in the upper levels, but found my way down here. This place is where all the angry ponies go. They call this place the Swamp of Fury."
"Huh," grunted Chase, "Good name. Hey, you wouldn't happen to know the way out, would you?"
Suddenly, the mare's voice became shrill, and her eyes widened, "You want to get out?!? Nopony ever gets out!" Her voice dropped into a dangerous hiss, "They say that the creature at the entrance is vicious. More powerful than the ponies here. If you are going towards the exit, I don't want to be a part of it. It's suicide."
"I don't care," Treble stated loudly, "We don't belong here, and we have to get out to stop Discord. You don't have to come with us, but if you could be so kind, please point the way."
The mare stared at Treble for a few seconds, clearly thinking about how crazy he and his friends were. She sighed.
"It's that way," she pointed in the direction they were going, "I really think you should reconsider, but maybe you'll get out. Thanks for pulling me out of there. I'm going back up, where it's nicer."
The group stared after the mare until she disappeared from sight. Once more looking between the four of them, the set out in the direction indicated. After a few minutes of travel, they noticed that the area around them seemed to brighten. Cool air blew in their faces, and warm light filtered through. The trees around them began to take on a lusher, greener color. Presently, the foursome found themselves looking at what appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Sunlight warmed their faces, and the atmosphere changed from gloomy to full of life.
"Finally!" Dusty exclaimed, "This must be the place."
The band sat down in the now-green grass, closing their eyes and enjoying the moment. Unexpectedly, one of the trees shook, as if being rocked by a large animal. The noise immediately set the friend on guard. They could feel something was hiding, something large and deadly. Silence reigned for a moment, time seeming to stand still. Then, everything happened at once.
A large animal burst from the trees, scaring the lot of them. The creature let out a bone-chilling roar, freezing the terrified ponies in place. The beast stood on four legs, its hairless body a dark greyish brown. Its gruesome face was set in a snarl, large fangs hanging from its mouth. Its back was covered in sharp spines, and its clawed paws were large enough to break a deer's neck with ease. It stared the group down, as if trying to decide which one to attack first. Finally deciding, the monster lunged straight at Rose, the weakest of the group. This spurred both Treble and Dusty into action.
Treble grabbed the petrified Rose with out a moment's hesitation, while Dusty started trying to beat it on its head. The thing snapped and clawed at the aquamarine pegasus, trying to force her downwards towards the ground where she wouldn't have the advantage of flight. She skillfully dodged its attacks, while watching Chase charge up an offensive spell. The spell shot off into the creature's open maw, causing the beast to shriek in agony. Spitting out its own blood, it turned swiftly towards the midnight blue unicorn. Chase jumped to the side, letting the animal ram its head into the tree directly behind him. Taking this moment's opportunity, the four ponies darted into the entrance, running as the thing recovered. They didn't stop until the entrance to Tartarus was far behind them. Finally, they collapsed onto the dusty ground, panting heavily due to the near-death encounter.