Pain.

That was the first thing that made itself known to me. Scream after scream was torn from my sore throat. Something was eating into my neck, searing through the flesh and muscle as though it was paper. Tears leaked down my cheeks as I struggled desperately against my bonds. I wanted it to stop, I needed it to stop. Oh, Celestia please, make it stop.

Finally freeing my left hoof, I reached up and clawed at the collar around my neck. An eternity later, I flung it off and slumped back onto the ground. Even the mere act of panting and swallowing sent bolts of pain through my entire body. Closing my eyes, I reached out with my magic only to suddenly stop when I felt how weak it was.

And then everything came rushing back to me. Rarity, the fight, the liquid rainbow and most importantly, Dash's stupid choice. I was tired though, all I wanted to do was close my eyes drift off. Nightmare Moon, eternal night – let some other pony deal with it today. Just... just let me sleep. Please. One night's rest, that's all I ask for. The last time I had gotten that was... Well I don't know when, but right now, it was calling out to me.

"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, please focus on my voice, don't give in now my most faithful student. Stay awake. For Celestia, for Equestria. Remember?"

"Celestia...?" I mumbled.

"Twilight Sparkle, you have an assignment due tomorrow on 'Spells Through the Ages – A Comprehensive Guide to All Things Magical' and you haven't even read the book let alo-"

My eyes snapped open. "Spiiiiiiike! I need..." I stared at the phantom Celestia before me who wore an innocent expression on her face. "Oh har, har, real funny.... But thanks."

Sighing, the first thing I checked was my neck. Even the lightest touch made me whimper in pain, but other than that, it seemed alright. But how did the collar come off? One of the first things I had tried once I was out of Nightmare Moon's sight was try to remove it. So... what the bu- Oh dear Celestia I'm an idiot. The liquid rainbow must have short-circuited the protections on it. That also meant she couldn't hear a word I was saying or track where I was.

I shook my head – stay focused Twilight, you can worry about that later.

A quick survey told me that Rainbow Dash was still unconscious, but perfectly safe under me and the debris around us had formed a little hollow just large enough of us. Sure, there was a bit of pressure on my back, but I could still sort of breathe. Sending out tendrils of magic, I examined Dash and let out the breath I was holding. A couple broken bones and cuts, but nothing that'd kill her within the day. After that though? There was no guarantee she'd live past two days.

Wiping the blood from my eyes, I surveyed my surroundings and blinked in surprise. My entire right foreleg was trapped under ton of twisted metal. Giving it a tug, not a single signal of pain managed to find its way to my brain. In fact, I couldn't even feel the weight on it, which was cur- Ooooh, of course. I had a pole through my right shoulder earlier and the nerves probably hadn't repaired itself yet. Either that or they're completely shot to Tartarus.

A deep breath later, I turned my attention back to the situation we were in. Checking how much magic I had left, I swore under my breath. I had enough for a portal or two, but that was it. Sure, I could try lifting the debris off my trapped limb, but if something large became dislodged, there was no guarantee I'd be able to block it. And if I waited for help, there was the probably of me bleeding out. I could heal myself and Dash, but then we'd be trapped here with no means of escape and probably starve to death. Even now, I could still feel the desire to sleep bubbling beneath the surface. Phantom Celestia had bought me some time, but not a lot of it.

"And don't think I've forgotten about you," I snarled at Rainbow Dash. "You're the Element of Loyalty – you're meant to be loyal to Equestria. What would have happened if you died? I'll tell you what, Nightmare Moon would have won! How long would it have taken us to find a new Bearer of Loyalty? And worst of all, Nightmare Moon put a tracker on Rarity, which meant your plan – will brilliant – has resulted in the entire Dawn Brigade being put in danger! You stupid mare!"

It was now or never.

Closing my eyes, I channeled the meager amounts of power I had left into my horn. Conjuring the image of the ruins in the Everfree Forest, I felt a portal open beneath us. The coldness sent shudders through my body and though it flickered into and out of existence, it was our only way out of here. I just hope it didn't sudden close while we were only halfway through. I like my entire body intact and not cut in half thank you very much.

Once the sister portal was open, I immediately felt ourselves sinking through the ground as though we were in quick sand. The only thing that stopped me from running away in fright was the knowledge that doing so cause the portal to shut. So with my eyes closed and scared whimpers filling the air, we sunk lower and lower into the floor under only my head and trapped leg was above. Taking a deep breath, my head went under and the feeling of solid stone enclosed every single inch of my body.

This was no doubt, what being buried alive felt like. It was like I was being compressed from every single side simultaneously and though I knew I could breathe, something told me dirt would immediately fill my lungs. Had I... had I transferred us directly into a stone wall? Would we be entombed forever, trapped in this half existence?

My head suddenly popped through the other side and I gulped down lungful after lungful of air. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably as I collapsed on the ground, but the furthest I got was sinking onto my knees. Looking at the portal on the wall, I gave an experimental tug to make sure I had gotten as much of my foreleg through as possible. I was hoping to at least get my elbow onto this side, but all I had managed was just past my shoulder.

So... this was it then.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I knew what I had to do, but nonetheless I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was losing my right arm for Luna's sake! Out of all the sins I had committed, all the ponies I had tortured and killed, this one should have been the easiest. I should have been able to do it without even blinking, without a second thought, without even needing to consider it for a second. And yet...

"You got an A."

"What!?"

The portal slammed shut and all I could do was stare at the blood pouring out and the stump. There was no mind numbing pain, not even the barest spark. One second I had a leg and the next it was gone. I had... I had... My leg, it was... gone.

"Focus Twilight."

"R- Right." With my eyes shut tight, I opened a second portal straight to the Canterlot Castle Throne Room and dived through headfirst.

Could I have stayed behind? Sure, but I'd bleed to death. And even if I wasn't bleeding like mad this was still the better option. After all, I still needed to find those books Celestia had left behind and get Nightmare Moon to trust me enough to tell me where she had stashed Celestia. In the end, the only thing that mattered was getting Celestia back. I'd willing traverse through the entirety of Tartarus if I thought it'd bring her back.

The princess and her knight walked amongst the dead as though it was the just another stroll through the park. Or at least Cadence did, Shining Armor trotted beside her with ten different offensive spells at the ready just in case. Of course, if she ever found out about that little fact, he had no doubts that he'd find himself sleeping by his lonesome for an entire week. Glancing over at his marefriend, he couldn't quite keep the frown off his face.

Just who in the world was she?

A princess yes, but he doubted even Princess Celestia could walk up to Cerberus and command him to sit like a pet and actually be obeyed. Everything that had happened over the past half year was like one massive conspiracy theory starting with being dragged out in the middle of night, given a secret mission by Princess Celestia to protect Cadence – as though he needed an order to do that. And then they had gone in search of the entrance to Tartarus because it was part of some secret mission that nopony would tell him about! Celestia damn it, he really hated being kept out of the loop.

"Hey Cadence, how much further is it anyways? I swear we've been walking along this path for the last three days and the bottom doesn't seem to be getting any closer." His voice echoed through the empty cavern as they continued their spiral journal downwards. "Can't we just teleport or fly down or something?"

"I've already told you, we can't," sighed Cadence. "I know I've kept a lot of things from you Love, but I promise everything will be explained soon."

"You said that six months ago when we started this entire journey," mumbled Shining under his breath. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, but this would be a lot easier for me to swallow if I actually had something to go on."

"It's..."

"Complicated?"

"Yeah..."

"Alright dear, lead on." A deathly wail floated through the chamber, sending chills down their spines. "And I really hate that sound."

"Thank you. I... I couldn't have gotten this far without you." The two shared a brief hug before Cadence pulled back and looked over the edge. "And we're almost there."

"How can you tell? The distance looks the same." With a grin, Cadence skipped behind Shining and began shoving him forward. "Hey, if you wanted me to hurry up you could have just... Whoa... Like, seriously, whoa, that is some serious illusion magic. I think Twilight would be hard pressed to do something on this scale."

Taking a step back, the endless downward spiral returned. Stepping forward once more, the stairs melted away and all that lay before him was a great river of ephemeral blue. On the banks was a little rickety boat and a skeleton pony in a cloak. The stairway they came down had vanished entirely to be replaced with a stone ceiling and looking over his shoulder, all he could see was an endless tunnel that descended into pitch-blackness.

"This is the River Styx," explained Cadence as she trotted forward towards a boat. "Normally a dead pony would have a hoof crafted gift from their loved ones to pay the ferryman, but since we're not dead we don't have that luxury."

"So then how do we cross? According to myths without paying the ferrymare we're stuck in limbo forever." Shining Armor blinked. "Actually, what if someone died without loved ones or whatnot?"

"Well the gifts are more or less to represent love and harmony. Even if someone wasn't buried, they would have memories that would quality. A gift just speeds up the process." Stepping into the boat, she held out a hoof. "Coming dear?"

Settling down next to the alicorn, Shining Armor resisted the urge to lean away from the skeleton. He could deal with spiders; he could deal with manticores, by Celestia he could even deal with a dragon, but skeletons? A shudder ran through his body. Skeletons, ghouls and ghosts – heh, wait till Twilie hears about this, so much for such superstitious nonsense not existing. Just imagining the look on her face when she was told the truth would have made the entire journey worth it. If he got out of here alive that was.

No, not if, to think in "if" is to invite disaster. Come on! Keep it together. They went through the Everfree Forest, climbed the tallest mountain, slipped through Changling territory and swam to the bottom of a lake. If they could do all that, they could escape from Tartarus. They would survive this and if it came down to it, Cadence would live.

Even if it meant he would die.

Apart of him wanted to fill the void, to banish the silence with some sort of innocent question, but at the same time, it was comfortable. Here in the depths of death, there was no need to talk or break the silence, just sitting next to each other, being wrapped up in her wings – that was enough. There was no need for sounds; to talk would be disrespectful to this silent place and to each other. Sometimes, words just weren't necessary.

Eventually though, the boat came to a calm stop at the bottom of a set of stone steps. Stepping out first, Shining gave a regal bow before holding out a hoof with a smile. Giggling like a little filly, she took the offered arm and daintily stepped onto the stone surface. Then with an 'accidental' trip, she went right into the hooves of her love and with a mischievous little grin, pecked him on the lips before racing up the steps.

"Last one to the top tries to get Twilight to stop studying and rest!"

"Huh? What! Hey, wait up!" Chasing the mad mare, he was forced to take two steps at a time. Even then, he was seriously lagging behind and he knew that there was no way he could catch up. Ever since they were little, Cadence could always outpace him – considering she often did marathons for charity, it wasn't really a surprise though. Plus, it also meant he got a perfect view of her delicious flank.

That was until he ran straight into it. Not that he was complaining, oh no, he'd never complain of such a thing. But he was afraid of the retribution he would suffer at that sadistic mare's hooves. Not that he'd complain about that either. To complain about it would be inviting more embarrassment than being caught with her in his bedroom by his parents. Or Princess Celestia. Or both parties simultaneously. Or-

"Ah hem, your drifting again dear."

"Huh?" If he blushed any harder, he'd be able to power Manehatten by himself. "Oh, right. Sorry. So... er... now we entire the big, scary, ominously looking castle? Wait, are those stone ponies?"

"Yes. To both questions in case you were about to ask."

"I wasn't."

"Mmhm."

"...Okay, maybe I was, but in all seriousness, stone ponies? Could it get even more clichéd? Just don't tell me there's going to be ominous pipe organ playing, a cackling villain and a storm."

"Play nice, I think it's a nice castle even if it's a tad on the morbid side, but hey, it is where ponies come to be judged."

The massive stone doors slid open without a sound and stepping through, it immediately shut behind them. Shining's eyes constantly moved from location to location, identifying all the various potential sites for an assassin to hide, potential escape routes and most importantly, the most defensible positions. The lack of life though merely made him even more cautious. Nothing was ever as still as this, not even death – the only time things were this still, were just before an ambush or battle.

"Calm down dear." The mere sound of her voice washed the tension away from his body. "We came through the back door and nothing will harm us here."

Stopping in front of a large stone door, Cadence sighed softly before visibly straightening herself and entering. Following close behind her, Shining's eyes widened in surprise. Constantly glancing from the figure on the throne to the alicorn next to him, disbelief crashed down upon him like a ton of bricks.

They were identical in every single last sense of that word. The same cerise coat, same tricolored mane, same purple eyes, same cutie mark – heck, she was even sitting the same way as Cadence did! Just what in the bucking world was going on here?

"I was not expecting you to be back so soon." She even sounded like my Cadence. "And yet you are not dead, how curious. I take it you are here about Nightmare Moon?"

"We're actually here about Discord," replied Cadence.

"He's back!?"

"Not yet, but Celestia is afraid that he'll be back soon and stronger than ever if this war keeps going. She estimated that it'd take a full year, but even now, I can feel his power. If he truly put his mind to it, he could break out right now. Sure, he'd be weak, but he still has enough power to escape and cause a decent amount of havoc. I have no doubt in my mind he's waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Even down here and this far away, you must have felt his influence on the battlefield."

"I am... limited in this form."

"Um... excuse me ladies, but who or what is Discord?" asked Shining Armor. "And just who are you?"

"You... you have not told him?" At Cadence's shake of her head, Gaia sighed. "Really, I am horribly disappointed in you. Or would it be in me? No matter, you see Shining Armor, Cadence, and I are one being. In fact, the Nightmare, the Elements of Harmony are also part of our being. I am the first alicorn, Princess Gaia, or more accurately, I am just under a third of her."

"A third of her?" Shining's gaze swung back and forth between the two, clearly not comprehending what had been said.

"I'll tell you later." Cadence turned her attention back to the alicorn on the throne. "There are two things we need. The first is how you summoned Discord in the first place so that we can banish him for good and the second is that we need to merge."

"Merge!?" There was a hint of hysteria in his voice.

"First of all I never summoned him, at least not intentionally. There are a lot of things we don't know, things that only Mother ca-"

"Wait, Mother!?" At the glare from both mares, Shining gave a sheepish smile and mimed zipping his mouth shut.

"Fine, there are some things only our Creator can know and Discord is one of those things, but over the past who knows how many years, I've been thinking it over. You see, Discord is a spirit, but we already knew that did we not? No, I did not summon him, rather he came into existence as a result of the fighting between my sisters and I. It was our fighting that bought him here, after all he is the Spirit of Disharmony."

"But Spirits are just that, Spirits! They are able to influence matters in the Physical Realm to a limited degree, but they are not able to exist in the Physical Realm. It goes against the fundamental laws that hold and bind this dimension together. If Spirits can come and go as they pleased, the Physical Realm would descend into chaos."

"You are entire correct – it is impossible for a Spirit to move freely between the two realms, but they don't have to. All a Spirit needs to do is find an avatar, a creature that embodies their concept in such an absolute manner that they can act as a conduit for their powers. That they can manifest in the world. When it came to Discord, there was so much disharmony that a vessel wasn't even necessary."

"Then shouldn't he have faded? After all, when a ghost leaves the Underworld, they fade – never to be reborn and never to experience the afterlife as though they never existed in the first place. If Discord doesn't have a vessel, surely the same must happen to him."

"That is what I don't know, but there are four possibilities before us. The first is that he is like us in which case our Creator did some fancy things to break the laws to keep him around. The second is that he only stays around because I am dead. The third is that there is enough disharmony in the world to keep him alive. Lastly, there was so much disharmony from our little family spat that he's been keeping himself alive on that alone."

"In which case we merge together or we blast him to pieces, which requires us merging together so we have enough power."

"No!" Gaia's hoof slammed into the stone floor with enough force to shatter it. "We cannot merge. Currently the most powerful weapon are the Elements."

"But the El-"

"Are a part of us? That is true, but they are more than that. Think about it, if they represent only a third of the power of an alicorn, surely the Luna would be a match – heck, the Nightmare by itself would have been a match! No, they resonate with a pony of their respective virtues and in their hooves; they are able to tap into the Spirits. Yes, Spirits with a capital 'S'. The same type as Discord, Celestia, Luna and I. That is why they are so powerful. Each Bearer once fully synched with their respective Spirits can equal an alicorn in might. When used together, they are not just the power of a third of an alicorn, oh no, it is the power rivaling six alicorns! If we were to talk that power back to become whole once more, I am afraid we'll remove the only thing possible of defeating Discord."

"But-"

"But Discord is merely another Spirit and we too are a Spirit and therefore should be able to match his power? Silly Cadence, Discord is disharmony. The more disharmonious the land is, the more powerful he becomes while the more harmonious, the weaker. You know that. Luna's power waxes and wanes with the moon, Celestia's rises and sets with the sun. With the civil war going on, I'm afraid even the Elements of Harmony may not be enough. I am truly sorry, I wish I could help, but it is not so."

"But... but..."

Shining Armor quickly wrapped his hooves around Cadence, gently brushing her hair and rubbing her behind the way in an attempt calm the mare down. "It's fine Love, we'll find another way around this. Twilie is the Element of Magic after all and if I know my little sis, she's no doubt already got some super smart plan."

"You're... you're right. We got this far after all right?" Though her smile was shaky, the spark had returned to her eyes. "Princess Gaia, I'd like to thank you for your time. We'll be leaving now."

"Before you go Cadence-" For a brief moment, she almost looked hesitant. "-don't lose him. He seems like a good stallion and they're hard to come by."

"Oh he's the best," replied Cadence fondly. "I'm the luckiest mare alive."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Making their way back out, the unicorn guard managed to contain his questions until they reached the boat. Once they were safely in and back out on the River Styx though, he turned to face Cadence who immediately sighed at that familiar look. Twilight got it all time and every single time it meant a headache for everypony involved and numerous trips to the library.

"Alright, I suppose you've been patient enough. I suppose I should start at the beginning?"

"Before you do, can I ask a quick question first?"

"Sure."

"What did you two mean by 'merging' together?"

Sighing, she slumped in her seat. "I was hoping to avoid this conversation. You see every so often Gaia will split a part of her power off and let it be reborn as a mortal alicorn to experience the outside world and gain more memories of our sister."

"So I'm engaged to a ghost?" Shining made a face at that.

"More like you're engaged to a part of a princess."

"That's... actually pretty awesome, not that being engaged to a full princess was any more or less awesome." His eyes suddenly widened and his entire body paled. "If we get married I won't have to meet your mother will I?"

Silence reined for three seconds before Princess Mi Amore Cadenza collapsed on the ground laughing so hard tears were leaking down her cheeks. Though Shining Armor had no idea what was so amusing, the sight bought a smile to his lips. It had been so long since he had last seen Cadence smile that he wished he could take a photo and cherish it forever.

Was there truly beauty in war? In fighting? The conviction that Twilight spoke with seemed to indicate yes, but her cutie mark wasn't beauty so what did she know.

Right?

Rarity had to admit there was a sort of beauty in war. A finesse and grace that came from flowing effortlessly from enemy to enemy. To deny grace would be to deny a part of who she was – after all, one of the reasons she got into archery in the first place was because it was graceful. Fencing was the same, but unlike archery, she did not have the spark for it. Yes, there was no doubt in her mind that fighting could be graceful. Maybe even beautiful.

Even war could be beautiful. It was like a chess game if those could be beautiful then why not war? Just the finesse in well laid out tactic and then watching it all come together perfectly. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was indeed something akin to beauty there as well.

And that thought scared her.

War was meant to be a terrible thing, fighting was meant to be scorned so why did she admire it so? She should be disgusted, distraught and over all, she should despise it. There was no beauty in the death of a pony; in fact, such an act meant that they would no longer bloom. It meant the world was robbed of their beauty. Their personality, their quirks, their special ability – gone, just like that.

And yet...

"There's beauty in everything," whispered the white mare under her breath.

"Huh? Did ya say something sugarcube?"

"No Applejack, I did not."

The two friends returned to their vigil by the entrance. They were waiting for their friend, for Rainbow Dash. They had seen the explosion, it was impossible to miss it. The massive plume of rainbow and flash of light had stained the sky for almost an hour before it ended. Most surprisingly though was the magenta shield that contained the entire thing. There was no doubt in any of their minds that Twilight had done that though whether it was out of loyalty to them or some other concept they couldn't tell. Nonetheless, without her shield things would have been a lot worse. If she hadn't done that, Las Pegasus probably wouldn't exist right now.

"Any sign of her?" asked Trixie as she sat down next to them.

"Nothing," replied Applejack.

"Knowing that mare, she's probably waiting around the corner for a dramatic entrance," muttered the showmare.

"She ain't you sugarcube."

"Of course not! No other pony is as brilliant and magnificent as Trixie."

"How's Pinkie doing?" asked Rarity before the two could descend into one of those arguments – sometimes they're worse than the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"No change. Fluttershy says she's physically fine, but for whatever reason she's still sleeping."

"Alright."

Silence descended once more.

And so they waited in shifts. They sat by the entrance and gazed out into the eternal night for the faintest hint of her chromatic trail. There would be no funeral until they found her body. There would be no talk of her death until they found her body. In fact, there was no doubt she'd survive, there was never any doubt.

After all, she'd never leave them hanging.