//------------------------------// // In Tartarus // Story: Tartarus-Raiser // by Acoustic Pulse //------------------------------// Twilight stared in horror at the souls of the damned as they drifted by her. Did she really deserve to be there? She did bring it upon herself, after all. As she wandered around, she couldn't help but listen to the eerie whispers that echoed throughout the region. "Sin... is why... I'm here," one soul whispered. "From darkness... will come... light!" another soul sighed, with a hopeful smile on its ghostly face. "What does that mean?" Twilight asked it, hoping the damned soul would elaborate. Just as the souls disappeared, Celestia plummeted down from her bondings, landing in another part of Tartarus. "So, this is what being damned feels like," she said to herself. The place seemed to be an endlessly flowing lava pit, with only narrow ledges as pathways. "Well, goodness. Twilight could be anywhere," Celestia began to realize how truly stupid her plan really was. Back in Canterlot, Luna began to raise the moon. "Where are you, Celestia? If you don't come back, Equestria will be left in eternal darkness!" Luna shouted at the stars. She was truly worried about her sister. What if she didn't come home? Would Equestria be plunged into darkness for all eternity? She didn't know, and she definitely didn't want to find out. Twilight continued to wander, following the damned down this long, endless path. She thought she saw somepony she knew. "Was that Celestia?!" she wondered. "Impossible, unless it was her that has come to rescue me. From darkness came light! That's it!" she realized. 'I hope I'm not hallucinating,' the fourth princess thought. Celestia could see what she thought was Twilight. Was that being yelling? "HEY! CELESTIA!", it shouted, hopping about happily. "Twilight? I didn't expect to find you so quickly!", Celestia chuckled. 'Well, Twilight is with me. Now to get the hay out of here,' the eldest Princess thought. She didn't have any idea where to go, except for up, so that was her first plan. "Can you fly?" she asked her faithful student. "Why didn't I think of that?" she did her signature facehoof, causing her teacher to smile. "Well, then let's do this, shall we?" Celestia offered, and they both took off. The two flew up as fast as they could, both equally hoping this would work. "It's endless. We'll have to try something else!" Celestia sighed. "Like what?" Twilight groaned hopelessly. "Before you continue complaining, I am going to point out that you were the one that got us into this predicament in the first place," Celestia retorted. "Yeah, you're right," Twilight admitted and hung her head sadly. "Don't be so down on yourself, Twilight. We may be in Tartarus, but that doesn't mean we have to stay here," Celestia encouraged. "Wait, how did we get rid of Tirek last time?" Twilight asked, an idea hatching. "We sent him back here with that painting portal! Twilight, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" her teacher had come up with the same plan. "Find the painting, and get the hay out of here," Twilight answered. "Let's go," Celestia whispered, beckoning with her hoof. Back in Canterlot, Luna was still worried about her older sister. "Where are you, Tia?" she asked herself aloud. The time for her to raise the sun was upon them. Celestia and Twilight need to get out of Tartarus as soon as possible. "Is that it?" Twilight asked, pointing at a rather familiar painting. "That'd be the one," Celestia smiled. The two princesses used their unicorn magic to open the secret passage back to Equestria. Just as Celestia returned, the moon began to set. "Horseapples! I need to raise the sun," she panicked and galloped away to find her sister. "Come on, Celestia. Where are you?" Luna asked aloud. "Luna!" Celestia shouted happily. "GO AWAY, GUARDS! I WISH TO BE ALONE!" Luna snapped. "Who do you think you're yelling at?" Celestial replied calmy. Luna looked up at the sky and saw the sun begin to rise. "Celestia, you're back!" she laughed happily and wrapped her older sister in an embrace. Back in Ponyville, Twilight returned home quietly, knowing Spike was still sleeping. 'I hope I don't wake him up,'she thought. The first thing she sees is the puzzle box that got her into this madness. She picked it up, now aware of its true power. "I'm going to get rid of you, so nopony else makes the mistake of solving you," Twilight whispered to it, and buried it deep into the bottom of her trash can. The rustling woke Spike up. "What's that noise?" he wondered aloud. Twilight heard Spike, and went up to greet her number one assistant. "Spike, I'm home," Twilight said, as she started up the stairs. "I knew you'd make it! So, what was that noise?" he asked, happy to see his best friend. "That was me. I threw the puzzle in the trash. Hopefully, nopony will find it," she answered. "One problem, Twilight," Spike said. "What might that be?" she asked him. "It's Thursday. Trash is taken out on Thursdays!" Spike pointed out. "Well, that's somepony else's problem now. I just have to hope for the best," Twilight admitted. Twilight and Spike went to eat breakfast. It was the first time in twenty-four hours that Twilight had eaten anything. The oats cereal had never tasted better. Spike couldn't remember the last time he ate gems. They were both happy. After Twilight had taken the trash out, Ponyville's town maintenance crew came to retrieve it. "Hey, look at this," one pony said. "Did you dig that box out of the trash?" another asked the first. "Yes, but it looks cool," he first pony replied. "It's just a bloody box," the second worker scoffed. "Well, it seems to be a puzzle," the first worker retorted, twisting the box. He solved it, that same clicking sound rang out. "Nice job, now throw it away. You don't know where it's been," the second worker applauded sarcastically. "Fine," the first one said tossing it into the trash collector. The place smoked and fogged up. "What the--?" the second wondered. When the smoke cleared, chains impaled the first worker and drug him away. To be continued...