Twilight wasn't sure just how long she and Grogar had been traveling the dark wastes, but the trip had been quite uneventful for the most part, much to the undead filly's disappointment.

Maybe it was the path they took, or maybe, despite the stagnant state of the world, time had still somehow managed to bury a bit of the distant past, but there was little evidence of any civilization that Twilight could see. They made their way across dry, open desert, through a sea of dead, blackened tree husks, and even over a slightly crumbling mountain range in order to get to their ultimate destination.

Despite Grogar's insistence that the filly would not find any evidence of civilization on their journey, Twilight had still been on the lookout for anything remotely familiar—anything that would've showed that this land had once been Equestria, but if there was any sign, it was not to be on the path they traveled.

She could tell that much of the land they trekked had been open wilderness, which would've been fine, as Twilight knew of a few landmarks from her own world. The problem was that whatever destroyed the land, had made it impossible to tell what may have been before from what was now.

In the end, the filly had to accept Grogar's assurances that there was evidence to be found elsewhere in the world, and that he'd take her to see it for herself at some point in the future. Now however, there were other matters that needed to be taken care of.

Conversation had been sparse during the trip, and only grew sparser as it wore on and Twilight began to feel the effects of going too long without feasting upon a soul. Thankfully, the two had already nearly reached their destination by the time Twilight started complaining of hunger.

After what felt to Twilight like several ages, they both stood before the mouth of a large cave at the base of a massive mountain. Twilight eyed it dispassionately for several seconds before turning to Grogar, speaking for the first time since they'd reached and traveled across the rocky desert that led here.

"Is this it?" she asked dully, "the gate to Tartarus is in that cave?"

"It is, my child," Grogar replied, not taking his eyes off the cave in question, "we need only pass through here and we'll have reached the gate."

Twilight said nothing in response, merely nodding and trotting forward, past the demonic ram. Grogar watched her go with a furrowed brow, somewhat amused but mostly concerned at how quickly her hunger had progressed in such a short time.

She lasted quite a bit longer than he expected during the journey, but once the hunger had fully set in during the trot across the rocky desert, it had begun to grow with a frightening intensity. It wouldn't be a problem, right now, as they were about to reach the figurative buffet table of souls, but Grogar didn't like the implications.

Once Twilight had gained proper lucidity, he'd have to talk to the filly about the matter. To date, no lich had ever found an alternative to devouring souls for sustenance and sanity, at least, not that Grogar knew of. While it may have made a lich more powerful, it was anything but a boon.

To become a slave to one's hunger was the curse of being a lich, and Grogar believed it was a weakness that held them back from being the truly powerful and unstoppable creatures he knew they could be. Thus, it was his hope that he and Twilight Sparkle, with his wealth of knowledge and her prodigious ingenuity, could find that elusive alternative.

He'd planned on having such a conversation with the filly at some point in the future, but with how powerful her hunger was growing, it would have to be a talk they needed to have sooner rather than later. Twilight had only spoken once of her hunger, just before they had reached the rocky desert.

'I'm hungry.'

That was all she had said in the monotonous tone of the emotionally stunted, but there was much to glean from that incredibly simple statement—much more than Twilight herself knew. Grogar, through their connection, had felt that hunger growing even before she'd said anything.

Once it hit, it was not unlike a snowball picking up mass and momentum as it rolled down a steep mountainside, and though Twilight had said nothing else on the matter, to Grogar, her ravenous appetite had been as plain to see as the pitch black sky above them.

Even now, she hurried along, practically galloping towards the gate, and Grogar was half convinced the filly would start trying to hammer it down in order to get at the imminent feast that awaited her within. Grogar followed behind the filly at his own pace, taking in the walls of the cave itself.

He'd been a bit surprised by how unremarkable the cave itself was for housing something like the gate to Tartarus, but there was something to catch his interest. Namely, the many deep gashes and gouges he saw in the ground and walls near the gate itself.

It was impossible to tell how old these marks were, but it was clear something had either tried to break in or had fought its way out of Tartarus. Whatever the case may have been, it had attempted to do one or the other quite violently, not that Twilight noticed.

She only had eyes for the gate itself and, to Grogar's surprise, had sat before it, waiting patiently. Perhaps, Grogar thought, she had more self control than he gave the filly credit for, but then again, perhaps it was something else keeping her at bay.

"The gate won't open," Twilight stated, not taking her eyes off the gate before her, "my magic won't work on it, there's no handle for me to pull, and I can't push the gate open on my own."

Well that explained it.

"I see," Grogar replied, stepping up next to Twilight and eyeing the large gate, "well this is certainly strange. I was able to send Bray through with no trouble at all," he glanced down at the waiting filly, "what makes you so different I wonder?"

He looked back at the gate with a contemplative frown. In actuality, it was less a gate and more a large door—an incredibly large and ornate door to be precise. The entire thing appeared to be made of some kind of black stone adorned with silvery metal lining that snaked its way around the sides in a complex, vine-like pattern.

As Twilight had pointed out, there was no handle, or knocker, or anything indicating a way to open the door, making it, for all intents and purposes, a very fancy black wall meant to impede their progress. Grogar had known this from his observation, and he had circumvented the issue by simply having Bray phase through it.

Once Grogar knew where Bray had wound up, he'd been surprised enough that phasing through the door had worked at all, but now here Twilight was, unable to get through. The ram hadn't yet taught Twilight how to phase through objects, or morph her body into an intangible substance, but that would come soon.

Grogar himself could do such a thing, and wondered if it was necessary to do so. He frowned and stepped up close to the door before raising a cloven hoof and pressing it against the rather warm wall of black stone. He wasn't sure what to expect to happen from the contact, but it hadn't been for the door to simply dissolve at his touch.

Grogar stood there a moment, caught off guard by the ease with which he managed to gain access. Twilight had no such issue and wordlessly marched on ahead through the opening, eager to get to the distant souls she could feel wandering about.

Once more, Grogar watched her go, wondering just how the entrance was meant to work, and why Twilight couldn't enter on her own. Setting the matter aside for the moment, he followed the filly into a large rocky tunnel, the craggy stone walls dimly lit with a soft orange glow.

Further up ahead, he could make out the exit and the vast pool of lava and fire that lined a wide path of dark stone. Twilight could be seen making her way forward, and Grogar made to follow, but a sudden and vicious roar stopped him cold, his eyes growing wide with shock.

Up ahead, Twilight had heard the roar and halted her advance forward. It turned out it wasn't a moment too soon, because something massive, red, and scaly dropped down from seemingly nowhere and slammed itself onto the ground right in front of the filly.

Blocking Twilight's path and brandishing the meanest looking double handed axe Twilight had ever seen, was a minotaur. This creature however, was without a doubt unlike any of the proud minotaurs of the Minos Republic that Twilight had read about in the past.

It had a snarling, bull-like head with large, twisted black horns and beady yellow eyes brimming with murderous intent. Its torso was broad and it had thick, sinewy arms, both bare and covered in crimson scales and ending in fists that alone were twice the size of Twilight herself.

Its bulky digitigrade legs were covered in black fur and ended in white cloven hooves that it stomped against the ground. It bellowed and snorted and stomped as it glared balefully down at the tiny equine creature, but it didn't attack.

Twilight, unable to muster up any shock or terror at its sudden appearance, simply stared back up at it with dull, calculating eyes, already trying to work out how to rip its soul from its body and feast upon it. Grogar had gotten over his own initial shock quickly and, noticing the beast's hesitation, calmly moved to stand next to the filly.

The minotaur turned his attention towards Grogar for a moment, its meaty fists visibly tightening around the long handle of its axe, but still made no move to attack. It clenched its teeth, and Grogar could've sworn it was eyeing them both with something akin to frustration.

"Interesting," Grogar mused as he and Twilight continued to stare the beast down, "I saw nothing of his ilk when I sent Bray here to investigate.... a rather curious development indeed..."

Twilight didn't respond, but Grogar didn't expect her to in her hunger addled state. As he watched the minotaur watch them, a small, wicked smile crossed his face. This was already turning out to be worth the trip, as an opportunity had already shown itself—practically falling into their laps.

"He is clearly eager to see us split in twain beneath his mighty axe, yet makes no move to do so. He merely blocks our path and nothing more," he turned to Twilight, "what will you do, child? How will you sate your hunger?"

Twilight, for all her desire to feed on the creature's soul, had yet to come up with a way to actually do so. She hadn't yet learned the Soul Conjuration spell that would've made this a non-issue, and had no idea how she would obtain the soul even if she managed to kill the thing.

Yet the gears in her mind continued to turn.

She had her magic, and—more specifically—the Soul Projection spell. She also had the knowledge she'd gained on how the soul worked in general, and how one soul could affect another. An idea began to form, and she decided that if she couldn't bring the meal to her, she'd seek it out instead.

Twilight's horn flared to life and the minotaur tensed, raising his axe a little higher and glaring down at the filly with wary eyes. Grogar merely raised an eyebrow and took a step back, curious to see what the filly would do.

Both eyebrows raised as he watched Twilight's magic aura wink out and her body suddenly drop to the ground like a sack of bricks. A moment later the bell around Twilight's neck began to glow with a soft violet light.

Another moment after that, a pulsing violet orb of light rose from out of the bell and hovered in place just above the filly's body. Both Grogar and the minotaur watched it carefully—Grogar with growing amusement, and the mintaur with a nasty, suspicious scowl.

For a few tense seconds, no one moved, then, like an arrow shot from a crossbow, the orb suddenly rocketed towards the minotaur. It grunted and roared in surprised outrage, leapt to the side and took a heavy two handed swing at it with the axe. The axe however, passed right through the ball of soulstuff with no effect.

The orb righted its course in an instant, turning sharply and heading straight for the beast's chest. The minotaur raised its axe up to defend itself, but it did little to stop the orb as it phased through the thick steel and forced its way into the beast's body.

The minotaur grunted and staggered backward, its axe dropping to the ground with a loud clang. It grabbed and clawed at its chest, bellowing and snarling in rage—a rage that quickly turned to fear and agony. Its mouth opened wide, its eyes bulged, its body seized and jerked violently.

The titanic creature fell to the ground, jerking and twitching and thrashing and howling in pain. All the while, Twilight mercilessly battered and throttled the beast's soul into submission with her own indomitable will. The minotaur was strong of body and spirit, but even in her young and diminutive form, she was a beast of a completely different caliber.

She was a lich, she was hungry, and she would not be denied.

As the minotaur's spirit grew weaker, Twilight began to absorb it directly, adding its essence to her own strength and making the task of overtaking and devouring the soul that much easier. In a matter of minutes, the deed was done.

The minotaur gave one last weak mewl of pain, one last twitch of its meaty fingers... and was still. All fell to silence save for the intermittent sloshing and bubbling of the lava surrounding the stone pathway.

Then the beast began to stir.

The light returned to its muddy yellow eyes and it groaned weakly as it tried to sit upright. Its body felt far too heavy and just trying to push itself up was a titanic effort. It gave up after a few tries and grunted in both frustration and confusion.

It turned its bull-like head towards Grogar to ask just what was going on, and frowned in bewilderment as a series of grunts and snarls spewed forth rather than regular speech. Its confusion only heightened further as it heard Grogar begin to chuckle, then laugh outright.

He laughed deep and he laughed loud, nearly sinking to the floor. His shoulders shook with laughter and the minotaur began to feel oddly offended on top of all its confusion, and yet it couldn't help but crack a sharp toothed grin at its Father's mirth. It was the first time the creature had seen Grogar in such good humor and it made the minotaur smile.

That is, until its beady yellow eyes happen to fall on the small, dark lavender filly sprawled out on the floor a few hoof-lengths away, near the laughing ram. The beast's eyes widened, its bewilderment rising to new heights as it looked from the body, to Grogar, then back at the body again.

It wasn't smiling anymore.

It took a moment, but before long, the horrified realization began to set in for the minotaur. It wasn't supposed to be a minotaur, it was supposed to be a pony. It was supposed to be Twilight Sparkle, and now it... she, was afraid—terrified and ashamed of what she'd done.

In her carelessness and insane need to feast, Twilight Sparkle had somehow trapped herself within the body of the monster, and Grogar was laughing at her potentially dire mistake. She would've been hurt if she wasn't in a full on panic.

Her head was swimming.

She tried to call out to Grogar for help, but all she and the ram heard was a lot of wordless bellowing and snarling. Grogar seemed to get the message well enough however, and his laughter soon died down as he trotted over to the poor trapped filly sprawled on her broad, scaly red back.

"You never cease to amaze me, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar exclaimed, an amused smile adorning his face, "I admit, I hadn't expected you to go that far, but again you surprise me with your actions."

Twilight the minotaur merely whimpered in response, unable to share in Grogar's amusement.

"Yes, it was a bold move on your part," Grogar continued, "foolhardy, dangerous, and rather poorly excuted all things considered, but bold nonetheless," his eyes burned with a crimson aura as he spoke, "count yourself lucky that I am here to free you from that prison of flesh, child."

Twilight winced as she suddenly felt an odd and unpleasant tugging sensation somewhere inside the massive body she now inhabited. Another, sharper tug later and her wayward soul was ripped from the minotaur's body altogether.

"I've no doubt you skimmed some of the basics of what you've accomplished from the Black Compendium," Grogar lectured as he held Twilight's soul aloft, "but it is clear by your inability to make your way back to your own body that you lack any real knowledge of Possession. We will have to work on that."

He released Twilight's spirit and she wasted no time in zooming over to her body and sinking back into the silver bell. The bell glowed briefly and a second later, Twilight's eyes snapped open. She gasped and scrambled back to her hooves, then looked herself over before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Feeling better, are we?"

The filly turned to see Grogar approaching, an inscrutable look upon his face. Twilight hung her head in shame, and when she raised it another moment later to try and explain herself or apologize, Grogar cut her off.

"I do not fault you for your actions here, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar assured, "you were hardly in control, and only made what you thought was the best decision at the time," he turned his gaze back to the soulless minotaur with a concerned frown as he spoke, "this does however, bring up a topic we need to discuss, you and I."

"About... my hunger, right?" Twilight guessed worriedly, "it's... is it really that bad?"

"It's not the worst I've seen," Grogar nodded towards the felled beast, "you managed to regain lucidity after devouring a single demon's soul, so your hunger isn't as bad as I'd initially believed, but it will only get worse as time goes on," he turned back to Twilight with a grim look, "something needs to be done about this if you are to reach your true potential."

"Indeed... and perhaps I can be of some assistance."

Both Grogar and Twilight whipped around to face the large opening on the farside of the path opposite of where they'd entered. They heard the steady clop of hooves before they saw anything. Grogar opened his mouth to demand whatever creature was in the shadows to show themself, but something made him pause before he'd even begun.

Twilight looked between him and the distant cave ahead of them with a confused and worried expression. The slow and steady hoofsteps grew louder and a moment later, something emerged from the shadows. Grogar's eyes widened in disbelief, his mouth falling open slightly at the sight before him.

"It... it can't be," he muttered, "all these years... you were hiding here, right under my nose for all these years and I hadn't even realized..."

"Father?" Twilight asked, moving closer to Grogar as she watched the figure casually make its way towards both of them, "who is that? W-What does he want?"

The figure came to a stop next to the minotaur and looked down at it with an unreadable expression. It hummed thoughtfully and shook its head before moving forward once more.

"This is not at all what I had expected, but I suppose it pays to be prepared nonetheless," the new creature spoke, idly scratching at the white beard that adorned his red chin, "in any case, I do hope the offering was... satisfactory, little filly."

His voice was weak and raspy, perfectly matching his thin, withered, and wiry red frame. Twilight had no idea who or what this creature was, nor did she know how he knew about her, but something about the odd, four legged half equine, half baboon looking creature made her uneasy, despite his ancient and gangly appearance.

Maybe it was the broken shackles on his thin wrists, maybe it was the intensity and maliciousness hidden in his black and yellow eyes, or maybe it was the way he carried himself, but Twilight couldn't help but shrink away from the newcomer.

"F-Father, I thought you said there were no more demons in Tartartus," Twilight whimpered, "who... who is this? How does he know me?" she looked up at Grogar, "and how do you know him?"

But Grogar didn't respond, too shocked to do anything other than stare in absolute disbelief. The red, baboon-like creature finally reached Grogar and Twilight, stopping just a few yards away. He looked from the ram to the filly and back to the ram again before smirking at his stupefied expression.

"Surprised to see me alive and well, eh?" he chuckled and looked down at his withered hands, "...as well as I can be given the current circumstances at any rate."

"Tirek," Grogar breathed, "I haven't seen you in... several millennia. I thought you gone—obliterated by that accursed Rainbow of Light," he stepped forward, taking in each and every detail of the black furred centaur, "yet here you are, and you've changed a great deal. Tell me, what's become of you after all these years?"

"Ah, now that is a story worth telling," the creature named Tirek replied with another chuckle, "you see, Grogar, I am in fact, not the Tirek you remember, though I do hold his memories within me."

"Not the..." Grogar muttered before shaking his head and taking another step forward, "then how? By what means have you appeared before me now, in this forsaken pit of all places?"

"It's quite simple really," Tirek lean stepped back and raised his arms as though presenting himself, "I have been... reincarnated in a different time, in a different place, in another era. I am... Tirek reborn!" he lowered his arms and sighed, "though I admit you have... not caught me at my best. Still..."

He straightened up and gave the demonic ram a nod of acknowledgment and a genuine smile.

"...it is good to see you, Grogar my old friend."

Sorry for the delay, chapter ended up longer than I expected, which I guess is a good thing? Maybe? I dunno, I kinda wanted to release it earlier, but... eh.

Oh yeah, and Tirek is here now, guys. Rejoice or something.