It was the sheer silence of this place that most unnerved her. Twilight, bearing a look of grim determination, walked at a slow and steady pace through the countryside. She passed by fields, hills, woodlands, never straying from her path, even though no sane pony would ever wish to go where she was heading now. The skies grew grey and unpleasant, the winds became cold to the point of bitterness, and as for the grass beneath her hooves, it too began to change, growing more sparse and less fresh as time went on. One only had to take a single glance at this change to the landscape to know one important fact; this was a dead land. But it was the stillness that was ever on her mind. No birdsong, no animals, not even the wind itself made a sound through her journey. It was as if nature itself was afraid to speak up, being so near that accursed place. The only sound that could be heard was that of Twilight's hooves upon the ground as she drew nearer to her destination. And soon enough, it came into view. A solitary mountain, old, grey and cracked, standing in the middle of this decaying land. And, at its base, a large cave entrance, with such darkness within that even bats feared to enter. As she looked upon this foreboding sight, Twilight spoke in a hushed manner, almost to the point of a whisper.

"There is is...Tartarus."

The realm of the dead and the forgotten. The place where those condemned in life dwell for all eternity. But, it was not for those poor souls that Twilight came here today, for this place was also the prison of some of the darkest and most reviled figures in Equestria's history. Cautiously, she approached, her eyes never leaving the cave entrance. It is by way of magic, or the end of one’s life, that those imprisoned within enter this place. As for this cave...it is only for mortals, for the living, to enter and leave. Her eyes narrowed as that very cave grew with her approach. There was a slight breeze flowing within, making a sound almost like a laboured and pained breathing of a wounded animal, and that, coupled with the sheer cold of this place, caused Twilight to shiver somewhat. But, when she finally reached the edge of the cave. She did not enter. She did not gaze within and she did not cast any spells. Instead, she simply sat down and stared at it, as if waiting for something. Alright...it should be around now that he turns up. After all this time...I'll finally find out why. So, she remained here, counting the moments as they passed by. Minute after minute, hour after hour, the time rolled on as the young unicorn remained in the one spot, never letting her eyes drift away from that dark and menacing cave.

But, after a long period of absolutely nothing happening, something finally began to occur. The young unicorn looked on to see, to her surprise, that some kind of animal now leapt out of the entrance to the cave. After getting a good look at it, she realised that it was, in fact, just a squirrel. However, this was not the small, adorable kind like what she may find in Ponyville, but far larger, looking utterly rabid and crazed. She narrowed her eyes at that, but was prevented from doing anything about it by the sudden arrival of yet another creature. Leaping out in a dramatic fashion from the cave, this one though was far larger, high enough to tower over most of the homes in Ponyville. Possessing of a dark coat and bearing three savage and slobbering heads, Twilight knew exactly what this beast was. Cerberus...the guard-hound of Tartarus. Twilight looked on as the massive dog looked down, glaring angrily at the deformed squirrel before it, before snarling loudly. As for the squirrel, it began to blow raspberries at the larger creature, jumping about as if to deliberately goad it. This tactic seemed to work as Cerberus soon began leaping about in an effort to attack the tiny creature. As she watched all this, Twilight bore a look of sheer incredulity. Cerberus...the creature destined to guard the gates of the most terrible place in Equestria...left his post to chase some squirrel?!

She raised a hoof, slapping her forehead with some frustration at the thought of that, before looking up at the chase going on before her. I have to get that thing away from him. But, as she got up onto all four hooves, she stopped. Her eyes widened as, deep within her, her acute magical senses began to tingle slightly. A look of confusion crossed her face as she looked around. Is that...no...it can't be. However, as she dwelt on this, her expression soon turned to one of both shock and understanding, as slowly, she turned to look right at the large squirrel before her, still darting about wildly as Cerberus' massive paws attempted to strike at it. Is that...chaos magic? As she narrowed her eyes, paying close attention to the squirrel, she began to recognise the signs. Larger than average size. Erratic behaviour. A penchant for causing mischief? Yeah...it's definitely Discord's work. But...how? The power of the Elements should have wiped away all traces of his power. But, with that thought now fresh in her mind, her eyes began to widen. Unless...that little creature was already within Tartarus at the time we used the Elements. The powers at work in this place are strong, so...it's not inconceivable that such magic could have shielded it, keeping Discord's magic from being purged from it.

However, her train of thought was promptly interrupted by a loud roar, causing her to look up once again. She watched as Cerberus grew increasingly frustrated at its quarry, which simply refused to be caught. Seeing this, Twilight gained a frown upon her face. Whether Discord caused it or not, I have to stop this. Concentrating, Twilight's horn began to light up, and within moments, the squirrel ahead of her soon found itself bathed in her magical aura, much to its confusion. There was a bright flash of light and, in just a second, the squirrel was now right in front of the young unicorn, barely a foot away from her. It watched her with surprise, spinning around in an effort to get away. But, Twilight was too fast for it. Before the rodent had a chance to flee, her horn lit up again, sending forth a burst of magic straight at the creature. Once again, it was surrounded by her power, leading to yet another flash. When that died down, Twilight looked on with a smile to find that the squirrel was now back to normal, just as small and as calm as she always knew them to be. Thought so. With Discord sealed away, his chaos magic is pretty easy to undo. Besides, Fluttershy would never forgive me if I actually let Cerberus eat this little guy. She raised a hoof, gently patting the small animal on the head, after which it looked up at her with an appreciative expression.

However, that smile soon faded entirely, and the squirrel ran away in terror, causing Twilight to look upwards. Sure enough, Cerberus had arrived, barely a few metres away from her, growling angrily. He had, perhaps, been drawn here by her use of magic, but regardless, Twilight knew she was in danger as long as it was in a bad mood like this. She began to back away slightly, raising a hoof towards the enormous dog as she did so.

"Okay, Cerberus...easy."

But, rather than calm the beast, Twilight's words seemed to further aggravate him, as it slammed a paw down in a menacing fashion, causing something of a mini tremor all around. But, Twilight stood her ground, staring Cerberus right in the eye, showing no fear. The dog of Tartarus barked several times, each one loud enough to near-deafen somepony, but still, Twilight did not back away any further. Eventually, after seeing that its threats were doing no good, Cerberus merely inched its middle head closer, getting within a few feet of Twilight before taking a whiff of her. He had her scent now, and after a while, that anger from before began to vanish, instead replaced with a more docile look as he regarded the small unicorn before him. He flopped down onto his belly, with his tongue hanging out from his mouth, which was a sight that caused no end of amusement for Twilight. As she approached forward, she raised her hoof once more, gently patting a small section of his head.

"There there. You wouldn't attack me, would you? No...you only go after evil."

But, as that thought began to sink in, Twilight's eyes narrowed somewhat. She turned, looking upon the entrance to Tartarus, before looking back to Cerberus, bearing a look of determination once more.

"Okay, boy...let's get you back where you belong."

With that said, Twilight began to walk off, prompting Cerberus to get himself back onto his paws, before dutifully following her. On and on, Twilight marched forward, with the loyal Cerberus not fa behind her. She stopped, right at the edge of the cave entrance, and looked within. It seemed to be nothing but an empty dark chasm leading into nothingness, and yet, she knew better. Taking a deep breath, she took a single step forward, her hoof landing upon a cold and ancient set of stone stairs, leading right down into the darkness. She looked back, seeing Cerberus with his tongue still hanging out, before putting on a smile.

"I'll get you back to your post, Cerberus. And then..."

As she turned, looking within the cave once more, her expression became harsh and steely yet again.

"...I have a prisoner to visit."