Twilight Sparkle was just waking up as the first rays of sun smiled over the horizon.
It was quiet, save for Spike's snoring. She couldn't help but chuckle softly to herself at the sight of Spike sprawled out on his little bed.
She went downstairs to check the mail, as she did every morning. She sifted through the bills she had already paid.
One lone package stopped her in her tracks. It was a tiny cardboard box. Nothing special, but she was still curious as to what it was.
"What the hay is this?" Twilight asked herself as a small cube fell out of the opened box.
She sat down, studying the black and gold box intently.
"I wonder what happens when I do this?" she says as she twists the top.
"Oh, so it's a puzzle! I love puzzles!" she laughs. She must have awoken Spike, because he came downstairs.
"Good morning, Twilight," he yawned.
"Hey, Spike. Did you sleep well?" Twilight replied.
"Like a baby. Wait a second," Spike laughed at the irony behind his statement.
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled.
"What's that?" Spike asked, pointing at the box.
"Something I got in the mail. I believe it's some sort of puzzle," Twilight answered.
"Do you know who sent it?" her number one assistant was full of questions.
"No, now that you mention it," Twilight answered, you'd think the slough of questions would bother her.
"Well, maybe we should tell Princess Celestia about the box," Spike suggested. If only Twilight had listened to him.
"Don't be silly, Spike. It's just a puzzle," Twilight retorted, and she began solving it.
"What if it's a trap?" Spike asked.
"I highly doubt a puzzle box could be dangerous," Twilight said. She was noticeably annoyed by Spike's worrying.
CLICK!
"I solved it!" Twilight shouted, punching the air triumphantly. Little did she know, all Tartarus had broken loose.
The box began to smoke, and it fogged the Library. Twilight coughed as it burned her throat.
"I... told... you so!" Spike coughed.
A strange black pillar raised out of the floor. Out of the pillar, came none other than Tirek.
"Tirek?! What are you doing here?" Twilight asked in complete bewilderment.
"You solved the box. You have summoned me to take you," he said in a monotone.
"T-take me where?", Twilight stuttered.
"To Tartarus, of course," Tirek smirked, and as if by unheard command, chains came from the pillar.
Twilight squealed in pain as the ghostly chains dug into her lavender coat.
"Please don't do this!" she begged.
"You solved the box," Tirek repeated.
Tears formed in Twilight's eyes as the chains began to pull her into Tartarus.
"Save your tears. It's a waste of good suffering," Tirek replied as they disappeared into the pillar.
Twilight was gone before Spike could react.
"I TOLD YOU, TWILIGHT!" Spike shouted, tears in his eyes. Blood was splattered everywhere.
Spike scribbled a note to Princess Celestia.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Tirek has kidnapped Twilight and taken her to Tartarus. I don't know what to do, and I need your help!
Sincerely,
Spike
Celestia had just gotten done saying 'Good morning.' to her sister when Spike's letter came in.
"Luna, I'm going to Ponyville. I need you to hold the fort down until I return," Celestia said.
"What happened?" Luna asked.
Celestia shook her head and answered, "Twilight has been kidnapped."
"The f--How?" Luna asked, barely stopping herself from cursing.
"Not sure, but I intend to find out," Celestia said, and off she went.
Back in Ponyville, Spike was cleaning Twilight's blood off the floor.
"Why me?" he wondered.
When he was done, a knock on the door startled him. He wasn't expecting Tia to get there so quickly.
"Princess! Glad you could make it on such short notice," Spike greeted with a bow.
"What was Twilight doing before she disappeared?" Celestia asked, getting down to business.
"Solving this puzzle box," Spike said handing Celestia the onyx cube, trimmed with gold.
The sight of it almost made Celestia jump out of her pearly white coat.
"WHERE DID SHE GET THAT?!" Celestia asked loudly.
"I-in the mail," Spike stammered.
"Who sent it?", Celestia asked in almost a whisper.
"No clue. The box didn't have a return address," Spike replied.
"Very peculiar," the raiser of the Sun said.
"You're telling me!" Spike retorted.
"Well, I have a plan. It might be kind of stupid," Celestia said.
"What do you have in mind?" Spike asked, not sure if he wanted to find out.
"My plan is to solve the box, get to Tartarus, and get the hay out of there," Celestia answered matter-of-factly.
"That really is stupid. Well, hey, it's not like we have many other options," Spike sighed.
"You make a valid point," Celestia agreed as she solved the box.
An all too familiar click rang throughout the room.
"Here's the pillar. Out of the pillar, comes Tirek," Spike briefed.
Just as he said, Tirek exited the pillar.
"You solved the box," Tirek said.
"Yeah, I know. Where is Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia interrogated.
"In Tartarus, where she will stay," Tirek replied.
"Return her to Equestria," Celestia requested.
"She solved the box," Tirek repeated nonchalantly.
"NOW, TIREK!" she demanded.
"SHE SOLVED THE BOX; SHE SUMMONED ME! SHE STAYS!" Tirek boomed.
"So, you want to play rough?" Celestia threatened.
"By all means," Tirek sneered.
They blasted each other with their magic. Tirek was too strong.
"I have a proposition, Tirek," Celestia said.
"What might that be?" she seemed to have piqued his interest.
"If you take me to Tartarus, will I be able to find Twilight and escape?" she asked.
"If you can do that, you'll be recognized as a Goddess! Nopony has ever done that before!" Tirek scoffed.
"Is that a no?" Celestia asked.
"You beg for eternal suffering, I bring it. I will enjoy listening to your screams," Tirek laughed as chains dug into Celestia's coat.
Celestia didn't scream. Tirek wanted her to scream. He was gone just as quickly as he appeared.
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...
