//------------------------------// // 2. Prologue, Part Two: The Start Of Something New // Story: Tartarus Forged // by SvenFoxx //------------------------------// It was a slow process, returning to awareness. Twilight groaned as the first real thing that registered in her mind was the pain only a migraine could cause, but even then it seemed to be focused on the base of her horn. Had she passed out trying to use too much magic again? Slowly, she started to shuffle slightly, causing her body to re-register what her senses were telling her. She was sore. Very sore. She hadn't felt this sore since that spar with Shining Armor two years ago. The next thing she noticed was that she was on something… not comfortable, but not a hard floor either. A few blankets maybe? Deciding to just get it over with, she opened her eyes, and found herself staring at a ceiling made of red stone bricks. She rolled over and slowly got to her knees, looking around. The room was completely made of the red stone. There was a simple desk and chair with some stationary, a candle that burned with a green flame, and then the "bed” she was laying on, but that was it, barring the entrance into the room. “I see you’re awake.” Twilight looked over towards the entrance when she heard the unfamiliar male voice. She blinked as she took in the strange creature before her. He was tall, easily taller than Princess Celestia, and looked to be some bizarre combination of Pony and Minotaur. His lower body was covered in black fur, while most of his upper body was coated in red. He had white hair done up in a tail, and two rather impressive black horns that curved their way up over his head. It was his eyes though that unnerved Twilight. Those yellow eyes with black sclera... they spoke of power and apathy, mixed with a good bit of confidence. “Who are you? And where am I?” Twilight asked with some trepidation. The creature chuckled. “I’m not surprised you don’t know where you are. This is very much an out-of-the-way place for Ponies. As for my name, I am Lord Tirek, ruler of this realm.” Twilight frowned, her memory, rattled by her still slightly sleepy mind, sparking at the name but not offering any information beyond that. Tirek approached. “As for how you got here, I do not know beyond the fact that a great deal of magic went into what brought you here. I found you after I sensed the magical expulsion, and saved you from a hoard of demons trying to feast on the magic you were radiating. I brought you here to recover after healing most of your wounds.” Twilight smiled up at him. “Thank you then… wait, demons? In Equestria!? How!?” She panicked slightly. Tirek chuckled. “You think demons have escaped Tartarus to Equestria, don’t you? Well, you are mistaken. In fact, it is the other way around. Somehow, you’ve found your way to Tartarus.” He then pointed at her forehead, at her horn. “And discovered quickly one of the effects this realm has.” Twilight looked up cross-eyed at her horn, or tried to, before giving up and conjuring a mirror. Her attempt instead rewarded her with pure agony. Tirek crossed his arms and waited patiently for Twilight to stop screaming and writhing in pain from trying to run her magic through the shattered stump of her horn. When she finally stopped, panting and sweating, he spoke. “Tartarus forces its inhabitants to rely on nothing more than skill, destroying all forms of boosting any abilities you may have. As your horn is a magical foci Unicorns use to cast spells, it was destroyed upon your arrival.” He chuckled, this time a bit darkly. “If you are anything like the Unicorns of over a thousand years ago, you are helpless without your horn, leaving you at my mercy.” He grinned, revealing sharp canines. --- Equestria Two days after Twilight vanished... With a suddenness that startled the onduty nurse, Celestia sat up in her bed with a gasp., and then the pain of her various injuries registered and she just managed to hold in the scream that tried to escape. Slowly, she relaxed her body and laid back down. As she adjusted to the pain, the nurse, a Unicorn with a red coat and pink mane, approached. "Your Highness, how do you feel?" the mare asked. Celestia glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Pained, but nothing I can't handle. How did this happen?" she asked, knowing full well that if whatever happened had put her in the hospital, it was big, and had likely affected her short-term memory. "Nopony knows, Your Highness. All anypony knows is that your student's tower exploded violently. You were found among the rubble in your current condition." Celestia frowned, her memory shifting at the reminder. That's right, she had been testing Twilight on her control when... something had happened. It was still a blurry mess. "And Twilight? Is she okay?" The nurse shook her head. "The rescue teams are still combing through the rubble, but so far there's been no sign of Twilight Sparkle, alive or otherwise. life-scanning spells have been used in and around the area repeatedly, but there's nothing alive in there as far as they can tell. If your student is in the rubble..." she trailed off. Celestia's expression fell. "I see." She schooled her features and locked down her emotions. It was a trick all rulers learned at one point or another. "Please, send for my aide when you can." The nurse nodded, recognizing the dismissal for what it was. She finished checking Celestia's vitals and left. Celestia waited until the nurse was gone before igniting her horn with magic. Gathering power, she then let off a subtle, but powerful tracking spell. She had long since tagged Twilight with a magical mark on her body as a reassurance for the likely scenario of her student being kidnapped. The spell itself would slowly make its way along the leylines of the planet in search of the marker. The downside to this particular spell was that it could be easily blocked if one knew what to look for. Thankfully, she hadn't yet taught Twilight the spell, so the young mare shouldn't be able to block it. Unfortunately, it took some time to complete its scan, so she had at most a week or two of waiting before she got results. One thing she did know though... she hadn't gotten an instant result, meaning that Twilight was nowhere near Canterlot. That was both reassuring, since Twilight wasn't in the rubble, and worrying. 'Just what happened, Twilight?'