Tartarus Forged Friendship

by Mystic Sunrise

Cold Iron Springs

Twilight and Cadance shared a confused look as Diamanda lead them down deep beneath the Crystal Palace, the way ahead lit only by the light coming from all of their horns. Why they were going this way was beyond them at the moment.

Earlier, Diamanda had come to them, saying it was time they both learned something new. Something that really only applied to alicorns. While that had gotten the both of them excited, it was beginning to wane, the longer they walked.

Cadance finally asked what both she and Twilight were thinking at the moment. "Where are we going?"

Dia smiled as she looked back at them. "Something both Celestia and I feel you are both ready to know about. She was able to get in touch with me from wherever she is at the moment. This was not how she had planned for this to happen, but circumstances change."

Twilight looked around at the rough cut tunnel they were in, even as her magic played up again. "How far down are we? And why is my magic acting up?"

Cadance nodded. She too could feel her magic acting strangely, and not just her unicorn magic either, but her Pegasus magic as well. "I've never felt anything like this before. It's like something is blocking my magic."

Diamanda nodded, even as her own horn flickered. "There is a reason for that, and it is part of why so few know about this place." She stopped as the tunnel widened out into a large chamber. "And we are here."

Cadance and Twilight soon followed her out and stood on either side of her. There wasn't much to be seen. Both of them took a tentative step forward into the gloom.

At that exact moment, their magic cut off entirely and the room was plunged into total darkness. But their magic simply wasn't working anymore. it was gone, as it had never existed, to begin with.

Twilight and Cadance began to shiver. Their magic wasn't being suppressed or held back by some force. It was no longer there in any way like it had been stolen from their very being.

To Twilight, it almost felt like she was standing at the Gates of Tartarus once more. The feeling was almost the same as she had felt the day when she had returned Cerberus. But this was something else entirely. "What happened to our magic?" She finally managed to ask.

"This," Dia said as she walked over to a nearby wall. Taking a hoof, she scratched it above a torch bracket. The shards cut loose was enough to ignite the torch, which erupted into a bright blue flame. All along the walls, other torches soon burst into flame as well, their light showing something neither of the youngest princesses had expected.

A vast lake filled the center of the cavern, its surface as black as night. Not even the light from the torches made a difference, and no waves disturbed its surface.

Cadance walked over and dipped a hoof in the water, but quickly pulled it back. It was colder than anything she had ever thought possible. "This can't be what I think it is, can it?" She asked.

Diamanda nodded as she and Twilight joined her at the lake's shore. "Pure, undiluted, Cold Iron. Not the tainted lower grade, you might have seen or heard about. This is the Magic Killer in its purest form. Only me, Penumbra, Celestia, and Luna, know about this place aside from the two of you."

Twilight was in awe at what she was seeing. She had never thought she would see this much. She didn't think it was possible for this much to exist. "How can so much of it exist? It's supposed to be super rare."

Dia chuckled. "I don't know myself for sure. I found this place by accident not long after the Crystal Empire was formed. It is the largest and most pure source of Cold Iron on Equus. Not even Sombra knew where it was, though he looked for it."

Cadance took a careful step back. "But why is it here? It's not supposed to exist this far north. Even Equestria only has a few places where it can be found."

Diamanda shook her head. "It is not native to any one place on Equus, for it is not native to this planet, or even this galaxy. In fact, it is not even native to this universe, or this dimension. This is what the Armor of Eternity was forged from, bathed in the heat of a thousand dying universes."

Twilight rolled her eyes at that. It was an old myth, old even during the Three Tribes Era. Few believed the old creation myths anymore in this more, scientifically advanced age. Twilight herself didn't buy them herself. She did have a question though. "How did they make the Gates of Tartarus, if the lake is here, and its all the way out west?"

Dia giggled. "With great difficulty. Only pure and true alicorns can do anything with Cold Iron in its purest state. They must beat it to the mold of their will. If they remain true and pure in the task, it will eventually bend to their will. Once it does, it will answer to no other master but the one who forged it."

She rolled her eyes at some long-ago memory. "It took Penny weeks just to get enough to forge the gates, let alone listen to her. And it took even longer to forge her War Armor. The same can be said of my own armor, though I have not worn it in a long time."

Cadance tapped her chin. "Did Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna ever try something with it?"

Diamanda shook her head. "Celestia never saw it as more than a curiosity to be studied, and Luna, as far as I know, never tried to do anything before the empire was lost. They both know of it, but that is as far as I know with them."

Twilight looked at the lake with a renewed sense of wonder. She would be lying if she said she didn't want to study it. Even if it was something only for alicorns, it was still a new subject for her, and that made her almost bounce in place with glee.

Something that Diamanda said though had her confused as she and Cadance shared a look. "Do you think either me or Cadance could ever do something with it?"

Dia tapped her chin. "I honestly cannot say for sure. You both are the first ascended alicorns Equus has ever known, and therefore, nopony knows what that could mean with Cold Iron." She smiled after a moment though. "But I cannot see why not. It is worth a try at least."

That helped ease the younger alicorns' minds a little as they shared a smile. It was something worth trying at least in the future. Though for what, neither could say for sure at the moment.

Author's Note:

Just a bit of unplanned world-building. Something I love to do by the way. It doesn't really add much to the overall story, but there is nothing else going on at the moment.

In terms of Season 3's timeline, this is about the same time as One Bad Apple. With the fallout from the wedding, Too Many Pinkie Pies has been rendered a non-episode in this universe.

Comments

[HeartfireFirebrand]

This story is great, keep up the good work!

[Twi-Fi Brony]

10067630

Found an error

"I. I brought back Cerberus," she squeaked.

"And how mistress thanks you for that," it responded.

[Ali della Morte]

Hope a new chapter comes soon

[Dragon of Shadows]

more please

[Greenstaroftheplane]

My patience has been activated. I shall wait for the next chapter.

[DzikutheDzik]

Amazing story, can't wait for more :)

[sinewystatue382]

next chapter?

[Mystic Sunrise]

10450287
Sometime in the next thousand years I hope. I know what's coming next (the reveal of Cadance's heritage). But it's putting it all down that's the trouble.

[LuminousSpark]

This story is interesting, and I'll be tracking it. However, I will say that the description you have for this story is misleading. This is more of story inspired by My Glory instead of a sequel to it.