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Chrysalis’ first impression of Tartarus after passing through the Changeling gates under her mother’s old abandoned hive was that it was dark. Darker than anything she’d ever seen before. To her it was like the cave was wrapped in a black blanket that permeated everything.

Her second impression, when she briefly let her shield down, was the smell of rotten eggs. She knew what that smelled like from her days posing as Princess Cadance in Canterlot. She immediately put up her shield again, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She looked back over at Jason, whose mask-covered face was illuminated by the nearby green glow of General Nictis’ horn as well as the torch he held in his hand. All she could see were his brown eyes which focused ahead at whatever was ahead of them. She could taste slight apprehension coming from him, along with a plethora of other conflicting emotions. Determination, resignation, anger and more flowed from him like a mighty torrent.

Walking over, she put her hand on Jason’s shoulders. She could tell how much it meant to him to keep this other human safe from harm. It was so important that he seemed to be pushing through some sort of pain just to do it. Chrysalis was no fool. She could tell something was causing him pain, but any attempt by her to get him to see the changeling’s own healer had resulted in increasingly stern rebuffs from him. It was one reason why she had been practicing her magic and trying to emulate a form more suitable to his own form. It was why she was attempting to learn an ancient changeling spell that would allow for the form she currently possessed to become her permanent natural one. A part of her hoped she would gain enough of the stalwart human’s trust to get him to see their healer.

Of course, that was only part of the reason why. She moved slowly closer to him, almost protectively so as they continued heading deeper into the depths of Gaia. On the other side, Nictis hovered as well. Chrysalis could sense feelings of worry from the general directed at Jason as well, and the two kept him company the deeper down they went.

After about half an hour in the darkness, five scouts which Nictis had sent forward came back and knelt before Jason. He looked down at them. “Report.”

“My Emperor, this passage expands the further down it goes,” one of them replied. “It also begins sloping more until nocreature can walk down, only fly.”

“Then we’re flying the rest of the way,” Jason said.

Chrysalis walked behind him, wrapping her arms around him and lifting him up. Beside the two, Nictis turned to the other changelings behind them. “All changelings on me!” With that, the convoy continued to head downwards at a faster pace.

Ten minutes later, the ground below them fell away sharply as the group of changelings entered a massive domed cavern with a large hole that sloped downwards into a deep abyss. In a way, this chamber reminded Chrysalis of the throne room back at the hive where they had first retreated to before finding the newer hive. Upon their arrival, the changelings who had gone forward flew down the hole. As they flew down, Chrysalis looked at the walls briefly. They were smooth with hardly any damage done to them. Chrysalis could sense ancient changeling magic at work within the stone chasm, but couldn’t tell what kind of magic was in use. The changelings of old had been said to have mastered many different types of magic, even supposedly rivaling those of ponies, but as time went on, those secrets had been lost. A part of her hoped that when this rescue was complete, they could search through the ruins and rediscover at least some of those secrets. At about the halfway mark, she felt a slight chill go down her back, but it was brief.

The chasm below began to grow smaller until the cavern shifted ninety degrees, making it possible for everyone to walk again. The changeling scouts said that the rest of the way was straight. Chrysalis put Jason down, only to catch him in her arms as he stumbled slightly. Jason reached out and placed his hand on the wall, pulling down his mask and beginning to cough. Chrysalis had heard this cough a few times before, and every time she did, it sounded like it was getting worse. She reached down to her satchel, bringing out a large bulb of water and holding it up to his lips. Jason took a long drink, but after about five seconds, he began coughing again, spitting out water all over the wall and floor. She ran her hand along her back, frowning. “Medic!” she called out to one of the changeling medical staff they’d brought along. “Attend to the Emperor!”

Jason stiffened and stood up, and Chrysalis felt a wave of anger mixed with pain wafting off of him. “Belay that order,” he said sternly to the three approaching changeling medics, all of whom paused in their tracks.

Chrysalis, unable to hold back her own feelings anymore, grasped his shoulders and turned him towards her. “Emperor, you’ve obviously unwell,” she whispered so no one else could hear her.

“I’m fine,” he hissed through clenched teeth before she felt him masterfully suppressing his emotions once again. He’d gotten quite good at it during his time as her subordinate. It had been one of the key reasons why he had managed to betray her under her nose. He stood up straighter as he added, “Trust me, I’m alright now. It’s just a cough.”

“You’re a poor liar,” she replied brazenly, gripping his shoulders harder. “You’re in pain, I can sense it! You should have stayed back home and let me deal with finding this other human.”

“If he’s anything like me, he wouldn’t be quick to trust a changeling, especially if he’s a fan of the show as much as I was,” Jason replied.

Chrysalis’ frown deepened. She was the only changeling who knew the truth of how Jason’s kind saw their world. He’d had knowledge of Chrysalis’ attack on Canterlot that he couldn’t have had unless he was there or if he had seen it through some magical means. While she scoffed at the very idea of her singing (she hadn’t broken into song), the other parts of that story had been accurate. He said that he’d left his world after a movie called Equestria Girls had been released, and it was because of that movie that he thought he’d be accepted by ponies. She took a deep breath and replied, “You still should have stayed home. We could have brought our communication stones to talk with him if we found him alive.”

Jason stood up taller and faced the cavern behind him. There was a greenish blue light shining on the turn which headed directly left. “I needed to do this, Chrysalis,” he said stalwartly as he put his mask back over his mouth.

She wanted to argue. She wanted to put her hoof, or foot in her current case, down and tell him he was making a mistake, but she knew him well enough to know that his mind was made up. She sighed. “I still think we can handle this on our own,” she said, “but you’re the boss.”

Chrysalis detected a small wave of amusement coming from him despite the lack of apparent change in his eyes. He nodded and turned, pointing to the cavern ahead. “Let’s go.”

Chrysalis turned and followed Jason towards the exit, the changelings around them following suit. Nictis took point along with a select few of the best soldiers. They turned right and Nictis motioned for the rest to stop. He pointed a hoof at two of his soldiers, then headed down the cavern. The two soldiers followed. She could hear their hoofsteps echoing through the cavern as they headed down to what she assumed was the exit. Their hoofsteps paused and she could hear whispers coming from the three soldiers, but she couldn’t understand just what they were saying. Finally, their hoofsteps resumed, returning to the turn in the cave. Nictis was the first to return and he placed his hoof on his chest, bowing to Jason and Chrysalis. “My Emperor and my Lady,” he said, “there is an exit, and we can’t detect any creatures nearby. But there is some vegetation unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Jason raised an eyebrow and Chrysalis could feel the waves of curiosity from him. “Show me,” he said.

Nictis nodded, turning back and heading once more down the cavern. Chrysalis followed close beside Jason, curious herself. They turned left and Chrysalis saw a large domed entrance. As they approached, Chrysalis saw the vegetation. However, that wasn’t quite what caught her eye. Out of nowhere, a glowing purple orb of light floated into the cave and meandered around until it reached the group. Nictis immediately encased it in his magic and moved it away. “What is that?” Chrysalis asked.

“I don’t know, my Lady,” he said. “We saw a few other of these orbs floating around the forest. I believe they are some form of floating plant.”

“Let’s not make any assumptions,” Jason said. “Don’t let them touch you just in case. This is Tartarus we’re entering. They could be dangerous.” He turned to Nictis. “You said we’re about to enter a forest?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” he said, “but it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“Then let’s see,” Jason said, moving forward.

To say that Chrysalis was blown away by what she saw was an understatement. The cave’s entrance was smack in front of a set of black stone stairs that led down a few meters until they reached a stopping point where grass began to grow. All around them, Chrysalis saw massive trees reaching up towards a light green light. There was a mist forming all around them, and she could hear the distant sound of a stream. The trees themselves were all of various types she had never seen before. One type seemed to be made of large brown spheres with branches coming out of them every third sphere. Another type seemed to possess leaves that drooped down like a weeping willow, but the leaves themselves were dark purple. Yet another type didn’t look like a tree at all, but instead resembled massive mushrooms. One other type seemed to be a fruit tree of some kind with many different types of fruit, all glowing, hanging from its branches. Yet one more seemed to have roots that rose above the ground, creating a dome of roots.

The undergrowth was covered with green grass and large bushes. One type of bush caught Chrysalis’ eye, as she saw that the top of each bush was covered with multicolored orbs of light. Some seemed to be blowing off in a slight breeze, floating around the forest and latching onto the bark of other trees or landing on the grass. There was a green light emanating from above the forest canopy.

Chrysalis could feel confusion pouring off of everyone else, Jason included. He knelt beside the ancient looking stairs and pulled up some grass, looking at it. “How is this possible?” he muttered to himself before reeling in his emotions and standing. He turned to Nictis. “General, I need a view of the landscape above the canopy. Use the communication stones.”

Nictis nodded and took out a small black stone. “First Squad, with me,” he ordered as he buzzed up into the trees. Ten other changelings followed close behind, all armed with the new and old firearms.

Chrysalis reached into her satchel and pulled out a similar black stone. Her horn glowed and the stone did so as well. A floating image appeared in front of them which showed a first person view of what Nictis’ own stone was recording. Chrysalis projected the image higher so everyone else could see it. Nictis was still flying through the canopy as she projected it. However, about a minute later, he and the other changelings broke through the canopy. “Can you see this, my Emperor?” he asked, his voice sounding a bit muffled.

“I can,” Jason said. “Rotate the view slowly so we can see the surrounding area. And zoom out if you can.”

“At once, your Majesty.” He began doing so. And what they saw made Chrysalis frown in even more confusion.

They were definitely underground, that was for certain. The view showed an extremely high ceiling of stone. However, the ceiling itself was studded with gems that seemed to glow with bright green light that shone down. The forest canopy seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see. She saw other different types of strange trees as well as mountains in the distance that appeared to be covered in snow. There were clouds in the air as well and she thought she spotted a small rainstorm at one point. The ceiling itself seemed to be higher above them than seemed possible, judging from her reckoning of how far they’d flown, but it had been dark, so it was possible they had gone down deeper than she’d realized.

Still, there had been that strange brief shiver she’d felt when they had been around the halfway point…

Just then, Chrysalis heard a distant rustling sound. Jason heard it to, because he grasped his gun. “Get back down here, General. We’re not alone in this forest.”

Chrysalis felt it then. A new emotional source in the distance approaching quickly. Unlike those of animals, which were simpler, this belonged to a sentient creature. No, she corrected herself. Three sentient creatures. All of whom were converging on their position. She pulled out her two pistols and stood between the forest and Jason. Nictis soon joined in. “Soldiers, protect the Emperor,” she ordered. “Possible hostiles incoming at ten, twelve and two o’clock.”

She heard Jason slip his rifle from his back and begin loading it quickly before aiming it at the forest undergrowth itself. “Weapons and magic ready,” he ordered.

The other changelings flew into the air, some taking out their own firearms while others who were better at offensive magic raised their horns. Chrysalis clenched the two pistols in her hands, aiming forward at the one coming in the center. Whatever was approaching in that direction was the closest.

Just then, the creature shot out of the forest. Whatever it was had a very familiar shape. It was a pony who was wearing some sort of blue cloak and cowel around its entire form save for the head. A very familiar pink pony head. In one of the pony’s hooves was a blade which the pink pony held up in a defensive position. On either side, two more pony shaped creatures appeared, and to Chrysalis’ utter shock, both were perfect clones of the pink one. The one on the right held a makeshift bow in both hooves and was aiming at Chrysalis while the other on the left held an old looking pair of spiked maces in her hooves.

Jason frowned and Chrysalis felt the familiar surge of anger at the pink one, the one who had ignored him during his three years in Ponyville. However, before he could say anything, the pink pony in the center glared at the group. “What are you doing here, Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis felt the amount of suspicion from this strange copy of the pink pony and it stunned her. She hadn’t even felt this level of suspicion from the purple pony princess during her failed invasion of Canterlot. Just then, she sensed a feeling of recognition from Jason, but it wasn’t the same as the recognition he felt whenever he thought about the ponies he once admired. He stepped forward, past Chrysalis and aimed one pistol at the pink copy. “You three are some of the clones Pinkie Pie made a few years ago, correct?”

The pink one in the center focused her attention on Jason, as did the other two. Nictis moved to stand in between the pink one and Jason, his gun pointed at the center pink one. Nobody moved for a good few seconds until finally the center pink one nodded. “Yes, we are. How did you know that? Who and what are you?”

“Watch who you’re speaking to, pony!” Nictis shouted. “This is Emperor Jason Wright of the changelings!”

The pink copy on the right narrowed her eyes at Jason now. “Emperor? And what are you doing in Tartarus?”

“That is our business, pony,” Chrysalis said, stepping forward now and aiming her pistols at two of the three pony copies.

“We aren’t here to hurt you, if that’s what you mean,” Jason added. “We didn’t even know you were down here.”

“Then what are you down here for?” the pink copy on the left demanded again.

“We’re here to rescue someone,” Jason explained.

That seemed to catch the three ponies off guard, if their feelings of confusion were anything to go by. Not that Chrysalis needed her empathic abilities to sense that. Their shocked expressions were more than enough to go off of. The one in the center looked at the other two, nodded at them, then faced Jason again. She began walking forward and Nictis moved in response to block her, but Jason put a hand on his withers. Nictis looked up in confusion at the human, but a single look was all it took for the changeling general to move aside. The other changelings moved to block her path, but Jason said, “Let her pass.”

Chrysalis didn’t take her eyes off of the pink pony and kept her weapons trained on the pony. However, she didn’t detect any killing intent from her. Once the pink pony was a few steps away from Jason, she looked up at the human. Chrysalis felt like whatever this pony copy was, she was sizing Jason up. She looked him up and down slowly, drinking in his entire figure. She nodded and stepped back, removing her own cowel to reveal her own face. She pulled her hood back to reveal that she had her mane tied back tightly in a ponytail. “He isn’t lying. Stand down. We can’t defeat them anyway.”

As the other two began lowering their weapons and removing their own cowels and hoods to reveal that they looked identical to the first pony in terms of mane style, the one with the bow and arrow in her hooves asked as she put the bow on her back and the arrow back in her quiver, “Who are you looking for?” she asked suspiciously. “And be honest.”

Chrysalis leaned closer to Jason. “We don’t have to tell these pony copies anything,” she whispered. “It’s none of their business.”

Jason leaned back. “These Pinkie Pie clones have been living down here for years, even longer than I’ve been in this world,” he replied in a whisper as well. “They didn’t do anything to us yet. Let me do the talking.” He turned back to the copies. “We’re looking for someone who looks like me,” he began. “Not exactly, but he will have my same general type of appearance. Stands on two legs, has skin instead of fur, hair on his head, you get the idea. Have you seen anyone like that?”

The first pink copy looked at him more closely, then shook her head. “Nope, I’ve never seen or heard of anycreature like you, especially down here.”

“Why are you looking for a creature like you?” the copy on the left asked.

Jason took a deep breath and said, “The person like me was sent here maliciously and without provocation,” he said. “He was banished to Tartarus and we intend to rescue him, or if we can’t, we’ll bring him back for a…proper burial.”

The copy in the center stiffened, then sighed. “We’ll lead you to the exit to this forest.” She put away her weapons and turned. “No flying and follow the path. This forest is large and full of dangerous animals but they know better than to mess with us.”

Jason looked back at the others and nodded. “Let’s go. Be on guard, however.”

As the entire changeling rescue force fell into line and followed the three towards a previously unseen overgrown cobblestone pathway, Chrysalis extended her empathic senses out further into the forest. Of course, this meant that the effectiveness of her senses diminished, but even then she would be able to feel the emotions of larger animals at least. She didn’t feel anything hostile nearby, but near the edge of her range, about five or so miles away she felt three massive emotional sources. They weren’t moving their way, however, but despite that she reported this to Jason.

“How big?” Jason asked.

“Physically I don’t know,” she replied, “but they’re definitely massive emotionally, so that most likely means they’re big monsters.”

Jason nodded, then lowered his voice. “What do you sense from those clones?”

Chrysalis focused her abilities on the three pink ponies ahead of them. Even during the invasion of Canterlot, the pink one had something different than these three copies. There had been some form of entertainment wafting from her. But from these three all she felt was intense suspicion, alertness, and a deep seated and burning hatred. However, the latter was not directed at them. The feeling was buried deep down and was directed at someone else. “They’re suspicious of us and on high alert,” she said. “And they hate someone, but not us.”

Jason nodded in understanding. “Let’s just keep following them. And don’t antagonize them. There may be three of them, but in the show there were more. There may be others out here.”

“I can’t sense any others,” Chrysalis said, “but this is a big forest. I’ll keep my senses open.”

With that, they fell into silence for the next few hours as they followed the three pink pony copies through the massive forest. They walked deeper into the strange forest and it grew darker, prompting the ponies to reach into their hoofmade satchels and pull out some strange sticks with a glowing crystal on top of them to illuminate the path. The changelings lit up their horns to light up the path since they had to walk in pairs down the road. Chrysalis kept close to Jason, looking around at the increasingly strange foliage. She saw many different trees and even a few ancient looking stone tower ruins in the distance on either side of the path. In fact, the pathway they were on seemed to branch off a few times and even whenever she saw a small ruin.

Nothing was said during the entire walk, and Chrysalis couldn’t sense any approaching monsters. She had sensed five other animals passing in range of her empathic web, but that was it. She also felt smaller animals around them as she tightened her empathic senses.

She even saw a small group of creatures she’d never seen before or even heard of. What she’d seen were strange blue blobs that looked like massive water droplets with some sort of glowing core inside. Jason had muttered the term slime when he saw the creatures. Chrysalis determined that the slimes or whatever they were weren’t of any harm and only had a simple one-track mind judging from their near lack of emotion.

This confused her even more. All she knew about Tartarus was that it was a desolate but dangerous place, but despite the dangerous feeling animals, this part of Tartarus was strangely beautiful. They’d even walked over an ancient looking bridge that had been built over a damn babbling brook which itself had surprisingly clean water. She’d suggested to Jason that they refill their water in said brook just in case they found no other sources of water and he’d agreed. When he asked one of the copies about the water, they confirmed that it was clean. Chrysalis had not detected any deception from them, so they spent some time restocking their water pouches.

Eventually, however, after what must have been twelve hours of walking minus a thirty minute meal break and the time refilling their pouches, the forest around them began to shift and change. The trees became more uniform, almost as if they’d been part of some old orchard once upon a time. There were various strange fruits hanging from the branches. When Jason reached out and took one to examine it, the pink copies didn’t react. Nictis spoke up. “Hey, do you three mind if we take some of these fruits? Assuming they’re edible?”

The leader pony turned back. “Not too much,” she said, “but yeah, go ahead. And they’re edible.”

Nictis began pulling blue hourglass shaped fruits off of the nearby tree and stuffing them into his own satchel. Chrysalis, knowing Jason needed actual food to survive, did the same with a purple pear shaped fruit on another tree. Soon, both their satchels were stuffed. When other changelings behind them started doing the same, however, Jason turned and shook his head. “We have enough. Leave the rest for these ponies.”

Finally, the pink copies led them to a clearing in front of a massive and ancient looking stone archway which itself led down a pathway towards a distant exit where she could see some ruddy red light. The three pink pony copies led them through the cavern, which Chrysalis noticed had some glowing vines coming out of some cracks in the otherwise smooth arched pathway.

Finally, they reached the exit, where the land land sloped away onto a barren and hostile looking landscape. She saw stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cavern ahead. Glowing reddish purple crystals were embedded on the ceiling and the stalactites which helped illuminate the surrounding area. There were massive columns of stone that supported the cave and she even saw massive mountain ranges in the distance along with what appeared to be moving clouds.

Turning to look back at the wall she assumed was behind her, she was startled to see a massive column that looked too smooth to be natural. It headed up until it connected with the ceiling. Its circumference seemed way too small to have held that massive forest.

Before she could think too hard about it, she heard one of the copies say “There you are.” Chrysalis turned back and saw that the lead pink copy was pointing out at the landscape. “That’s Tartarus proper.”

Jason nodded, turning back to the three pink copies. “Thanks for the help. We may be coming back this way again to get back to the surface.”

“If you survive out there,” the lead pink pony said dismissively, “and if you do come back, just know that you owe us a big favor.”

Jason frowned, but nodded. “You’re right. We owe you one.”

“Damn right you do,” one of the other pink ponies said before she and the other two turned and headed back down the pathway and were quickly gone from sight.

Chrysalis grit her teeth in anger and was about to shout something back at them before Jason put a hand on her arm, shaking his head. She relaxed before turning to Nictis. “Assign your teams, General.”

Nictis nodded, then turned back to the gathering crowd of changeling soldiers. “Okay, everyling! I’m going to be assigning you into your groups, now!”

As Nictis began doing so, Chrysalis waited impatiently. She would be going with Jason, there was no arguing that point. And Nictis would definitely be coming with them as well. Besides, it would give her plenty of opportunity to keep an eye on the changeling general.

Especially since his wings had begun to change.

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Silica, the bright aquamarine and golden eyed dragon known to have a practical obsession with the dragonrider race, stood on the shores of Lake Nova with about fifty other dragon volunteers early that morning, pacing the sands anxiously. Ever since her sister had sent her that pamphlet from Griffonstone, she’d been incredibly gung-ho about the rescue mission to Tartarus that the Dragon Lord had announced the night prior through the Bloodstone Scepter’s telepathic communication. She’d been one of the first out near the ancient tower ruin which was rumored to house the legendary entrance to Tartarus. Not knowing what else to pack and worried that the human was injured, she grabbed everything she could think of that she owned that was related to the ancient dragonrider race, including a perfectly preserved leather coat that was said to have been worn by one of the humans who had been caught outside of the barrier surrounding Nova America. In fact, the coat had been passed down from her grandmother who had, according to legend, taken the former owner of said coat as a lover before he passed away and she had remarried her grandfather.

She watched as the other dragons came and landed near the shore, all packed with supplies and even weapons from their hoards. Silica was similarly armed, although she really wished she owned one of the dragonrider weapons she’d heard so much about and had seen once during the Christmas holiday ten or so years ago when Dragon Lord Torch had displayed ancient human relics for all to see, Christmas being one of the human holidays dragons celebrated to honors their lost friends.

She was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t hear the sound of another dragon shouting an alarm. She jumped and looked towards where the voice had come from only to see said dragon pointing towards the northwest. Silica turned and narrowed her eyes, trying to see whatever her fellow dragon was seeing. At first, she saw nothing, but in the morning light she managed to spot a number of approaching flying creatures. They were too small to be drakes, she realized, and only when they were closer a few minutes later did she realize what they were. Griffons.

By her reckoning, she could see about twenty to twenty five of them flying in at a rapid pace. She even saw one larger griffon with what looked like a pony flying on its back.

“Who do you think those are?” a random dragon nearby asked.

“Probably a group of griffon volunteers from Griffonstone,” Silica replied. “It is their chancellor who’s missing, you know?”

“Why not send more?” another dragon asked.

“They’re in the middle of a storm over there and one of their branches fell,” Silica said.

“How do you know?” the same dragon asked again.

“My sister lives in Griffonstone and I visited her a couple days ago.”

With that, the dragons went silent and continued watching the incoming griffons. As they flew closer, Silica saw that there were two in the lead, but one of the leaders wasn’t a griffon. It was Dragon Lord Ember herself. She was wearing ancient dragon armor which she had used to defeat all other comers in the quest to become the next Dragon Lord. The second one in the lead beside the Dragon Lord was a gray furred and blue eyed griffoness with a look of fierce determination on her face.

She and Ember landed first and looked around at the gathered dragons. As the others landed, the griffoness looked up at the tower. Silica saw a wave of worry pass over her face as the other griffons landed. Many were armed as well in griffon style armor. Even the gray griffoness was wearing armor and a sword attached to her side.

When all the griffons had landed, Ember raised her scepter and struck the ground with it. “Listen up!” she shouted across the beach to all gathered dragon volunteers. “These thirty griffon volunteers have come to help aid in the search and rescue operation of Chancellor Gregory Graystone! For the duration of this expedition down into the depths, they are our allies. We will be protecting each other from any hostile force that tries to attack us!” She gestured to the gray griffoness. “This is Gabriella, the leader of the griffon rescue team. When we get down to Tartarus, we will be spreading out into groups. Six griffons and ten dragons to a group. You will be spreading across Tartarus, but you are NOT to lose sight of the nearest groups on either side of you. We don’t have a way to communicate across long distances instantly, so if one group finds Gregory or one of his companions, the entire rescue group will halt while two of the fastest fliers rush to catch up to the nearest groups. As we fly, I don’t want us to fly too fast because we might miss something. Most of you keep your eyes on the ground for anything while the rest keep an eye out in the air for any kind of flying monsters that might attack out of nowhere. I will now begin assigning dragon groups.”

Silica waited eagerly as the Dragon Lord began assigning the dragons into groups. To her astonishment and delight, she was in the Dragon Lord’s group. Including her and Ember, the group had eleven dragons in it. As she looked around at her fellow dragons, she heard footsteps approaching. Turning, she saw that the one called Gabriella was approaching with two other griffoness, a young male griffon, the same pony she’d seen flying in, and a zebra mare.

Silica had never seen a zebra before, but she’d heard about them. She’d read a brief passage about them when she was researching humans in some of the few remaining books from the dragon Golden Age. They were a race little known to even past dragons. All she knew was that they were a race of nomads who had an affinity for speaking in rhyme no matter what language they spoke. Judging from the gold jewelry she wore, Silica assumed she was some kind of high ranking zebra noblemare or something.

As she was the closest to the newcomers, she wanted to make them feel welcome, and perhaps learn a thing or two about the human Chancellor while she was at it. She walked up to Gabriella first and held out a claw. “Hello, and welcome to the Dragon Lands. I’m Silica, one of the members of this group.”

Gabriella looked up at her with a stony expression which sent a chill down Silica’s spine. However, her expression slowly softened and she held out her own claw. “I’m Gabriella,” she began, “and these are the members of my group. This is Gilda, Gallus, Gia, Starlight Glimmer and Zecora.” She indicated each member in turn, who gave a brief acknowledgment to Silica.

“Nice to meet you all,” Silica said with as pleasant a tone as she could muster. All of them had frowns on their faces of varying degrees, although none more so than Gabriella. To Silica, it looked like this banishment to Tartarus was incredibly personal to her. “Um…I’m sure you all know Dragon Lord Ember,” she said, turning and indicating said dragon. “The others are…well, I haven’t quite learned their names yet,” she added, chuckling a bit nervously.

Ember stepped forward then, walking past Silica and looking down at the group in front of her. She had a serious expression on her face as she said, “I know you’re all close with the Chancellor, but I swear as Dragon Lord we will do everything to bring him back-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Dragon Lord,” Gabriella said as she held her claw up. As Ember closed her mouth, the griffoness continued. “I’m Gregory’s henfriend, and I’ll be damned if we don’t find him and bring him back alive.”

Silica couldn’t believe what she’d heard. The human already had a lover?! She immediately was super jealous. It had always been a fantasy of hers to find a human and be swept off of her feet by him. She’d always wondered what it would be like to ride tandem on the back of a horse, too. Sure, she could fly, but riding a horse? All the stories she’d read and heard about made the experience sound very romantic.

Silica shook her head hard, smacking her cheeks. No, she thought, this isn’t about you! This is about the human! He needs to be saved! She stepped forward and stood a bit beside the Dragon Lord. “We’ll get the Chancellor back,” she added. “We will.”

The pony named Starlight Glimmer walked up and put her hoof on Gabriella’s back. “Please forgive her,” she said, “she’s worried.”

“Worried is what we all are, Starlight Glimmer,” the zebra said, “since everything for her happened in a blur.”

The one named Gilda pursed her beak and grit her teeth as she said, “I wish I could lay my claws on the fuckers who did this to him.”

Silica looked at her and nodded in understanding. “You’re not the only one…” She muttered. Silica could relate. Ever since she’d heard about Chancellor Graystone, she had wanted to meet him and pick his brain about everything about his species. It was a dream come true for the light aquamarine dragon fanatic. She had to take some deep breaths to quell her rising rage. She’d burn whoever did this to a crisp if she was ever alone in a locked cell with them.

“The day’s passing quickly,” the Dragon Lord said as she turned towards the ancient tower ruin. It stood just slightly off the shore, constantly being hammered by the light waves that had been hitting it for more than a thousand years. Silica knew that it had once been one of many such towers along the coast of the Nova Sea, but this was the only one she knew of that remained. “Let’s head inside.”

Silica watched as Ember removed a strange looking key from a satchel hanging from her shoulder. It was gold with red, blue and yellow gems encrusted into the grip. She turned to the tower. “Follow me, and we will bring back Chancellor Graystone and his companions!”

Silica was among the many who cheered.

---

Silica knew she was not as in shape as she should have been when they reached the bottom of the cavern which everyone had to fly down in order to reach the bottom cavern. If it hadn’t been for their own fire breath and the pony’s horn lighting up, they might not have made it down the vertical shaft they had to fly down.

When they reached the bottom of said shaft, they found themselves in a massive cavern with one exit where a light purple light shone from. The pathway was too far away to see what was outside at the moment, but that didn’t last long. Lead by Ember and Gabriella, the hastily assembled rescue team walked towards the exit.

Silica had read bits and pieces on the underground realm of Tartarus, but there hadn’t been much to find about it thanks to the majority of records from the dragon’s Golden Age being destroyed during the Time of Strife. Still, there were mentions of it in various scrolls and books. The general sense she got from the description was that it was a place made by the goddess of creation herself as a place where wicked criminals were to be sent. The worst of the worst, as it were. Even as a hatchling before her wings came, she was taught about it by her father had told her children’s bedtime stories about valiant heroes of ages long gone by who had gone into the pits of Tartarus to rescue their loved ones or to do battle with mythical monsters

She’d not been the only one surprised, then, when they exited the cavern and stepped out into what for all intents and purposes looked like a cloudy day. A light and warm rain was falling over the landscape, which was covered in grass and massive but different varieties of mushrooms that stretched up into the air as high as trees. Some even reached up and vanished into the clouds. There were also tall trees that stretched high into the sky, higher than anything Silica had ever seen. Most appeared to be tropical in nature, but she did see some large evergreens as well. The air itself was thick, hot and humid despite the gentle precipitation. In fact, the air provided better lift for dragons and griffons alike.

And there was more than just plant life. Silica heard the buzzing of insects, the call of some type of bird she couldn’t identify and the distant roar of some strange creatures probably fighting over a meal.

But the ruins were what caught her attention the most. Because when they stepped out of the cavern and looked back, they found that they’d come out of a large stone dome which was built around a large natural column which stretched into the sky. There were towers that lined the edge of the dome. There were windows in the dome and the tops of the towers that looked out at the lush alien landscape around them.

If it hadn’t been for the large stalactites and towers of stone, both covered in foliage and rising up into the clouds, Silica would have guessed they were outside.

As fascinated as Silica was by this strange discovery, she refocused on the task at hand and prepared to start flying with her group. One of her group, a large red dragon, volunteered to carry the pony and zebra on his back as they flew. Ember and Gabriella conferred with each other on how best to spread their groups, and it was decided that since none of them had any form of telecommunication, they were to fly so that one individual was within sight of at least two of their comrades. The creature on the outside of the group had to be not only the fastest flier but had to have good eyesight so that they could report any finds the group reported to neighboring groups.

The goddess’ blessing must have been with them at the start, because only about five minutes after they started flying, the clouds started to clear up, revealing a vast green landscape. There were large columns, stalactites and stalagmites from the ceiling and ground. There were large glowing yellow crystals embedded in the cavern’s tall ceiling that illuminated the surrounding area, which seemed to be studded with large blue lakes. She saw more animals during their flight, mostly some form of small winged reptile with a very sharp beak which chased some form of floating airbags that not only had large finned tendrils to help it move, but which also glowed with an inner light despite the glow from the crystals above. She also saw a variety of small reptilian creatures, some of which had feathers instead of scales, which were either running in packs, chasing prey or drinking from one of the small lakes.

Silica couldn’t tell from this height, but it seemed as if all the animals she saw below didn’t quite have the spark of intelligence that animals from Equestria had. The flying ones, thankfully, seemed smart enough to avoid the rescue parties. If some did come close and seemed to be hostile, it took one bit of fire breath or a blast of magic from Starlight Glimmer to send them hightailing it out of there.

Aside from the large domed ruin they’d come from, the only other signs of intelligent life came halfway through the flight when their group flew over a set of ruins in the form of an ancient stone ruin that resembled rings of massive stone archways, each arch made of two blocks with a third lying across the first two.

During their stop for lunch, the group sat around in a circle in the shade of one particularly giant mushroom. Silica still couldn’t believe that the light from above was from glowing yellow crystals embedded in the ceiling and stalactites. If she didn’t know any better she might have guessed the light was the same hue as the sun.

Silica watched as the group from Griffonstone sat apart from the dragons. All of them wore no smiles, especially not Gabriella. Both groups ate in silence. Silica hated silence unless it was during her research, and even then she could tune others out with relative ease.

Unable to take it anymore, she stood, walked over to the group, and asked, “Hey, you mind if I join you guys?”

They all looked up at her, and then at each other. Gabriella finally nodded, and Starlight and Zecora, who were sitting next to each other, moved over to allow her to sit between them. Silica gave them a grateful nod and took a seat quietly. She took out her tack bread and chewed on it thoughtfully as she looked at the group. Never in her life had she ever imagined that griffons, ponies and zebras would be sitting side by side in the pursuit of the rescue of a legendary race from another world. A part of her was jealous that the human hadn’t appeared in the Dragon Lands, but from what her sister had told her upon her brief visit to the city, the citizens had spoken highly of him. For some reason, however, her sister mentioned that ponies seemed to be walking on eggshells around him.

Wanting to ease the tension and try and start a conversation to pass the time, she turned first to Starlight Glimmer. Said unicorn was eating a sandwich with lettuce, tomato and some sort of hard beige strip that looked like bacon. She could smell the scent of hay coming from the sandwich. “So…um…your name is Starlight Glimmer, right?” she began.

Starlight looked up at her, appearing startled, but slowly swallowed the bite of her sandwich and nodded. “Yes…that’s me,” she said.

Silica extended her claw to her. “I’m Silica. It’s nice to meet you.”

With some apparent hesitation, Starlight reached out and wrapped her hoof around Silica’s extended claw. Silica wrapped her claw around it and the two shook appendages. “Same to you,” she said.

Smiling at the success of a first handshake, she turned next to the zebra. “And you’re Zecora? I’ve never seen or met a zebra before. Nice to meet you too.” She held out her claw again.

Zecora slowly smiled politely at her and shook her claw. “The pleasure is mine, my traveling comrade.” She then turned to look at the other dragon groups. Turning back to Silica, she frowned and asked, “How come, like the others, you aren’t armorclad?”

Silica chuckled a bit. Most of the dragons who had come wore some form of armor, but she’d only come with a necklace that had a small golden star hanging from it. There had once been words written on it, but they had since been rubbed away through wear and tear. It was an ancient family heirloom that had supposedly come from one of the humans who had been outside of the bubble when Nova America and its citizens had vanished. “I don’t own any armor,” she explained. “The armor they’re wearing probably came from their hoards.”

“You don’t have one in your hoard?” the younger griffoness, Gia, asked curiously.

“Most of my hoard is of books and scrolls from long ago,” Silica explained. “Most of them are about our ancient human allies.”

That seemed to get their attention. They all focused on her as the older griffoness, Gilda, asked, “Gregory told us about what Ember told him about that time,” she said, “but it wasn’t much.”

Silica nodded in understanding. “Well, we don’t have much from that era left, only bits and pieces,” she said sadly. “The Dragon Lord probably knows about as much as I do. Maybe a little less, but still. I’ve been fascinated by humans ever since my parents told me stories about them.” She began growing more and more excited despite the situation. “We dragons hold them in pretty high regard since they were responsible for helping us into a brief but amazing golden age.”

“That’s new,” Gallus, the blue griffon who was sitting suspiciously close to Gia, muttered.

“Oh yes,” Silica said. “They gave us a lot of knowledge about their world and its history which we tried to apply-”

“Did you say world?” Gallus asked suddenly, sitting up straighter and looking at Silica in shock. Gia looked similarly, but the other older beings around the circle looked a bit wary.

“He said he came from a distant land, not another world,” Gia said.

Silica froze, confused. “Um…well yeah,” she said. “Humans have no magic within them, so it’s impossible for them to have originated in this world.”

The mood suddenly changed, and Silica felt an overwhelming urge to stand up and walk away. Gabriella, Gilda, Starlight and Zecora seemed to be tensing up while Gallus and Gia were looking at the other four with frowns. “…Did you know?” Gallus asked in a low voice.

Gabriella took a bite of her small piece of jerky, swallowed it, then turned to the blue griffon. “Does it matter where he came from?” she asked.

“What matters is he said he was from our world, not another one!” Gia shouted suddenly.

“Hey, calm down, everycreature, please?” Starlight asked in a placating tone of voice. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on rescuing our friend?”

“Is he our friend, though?” Gallus asked, glaring daggers at the light purple unicorn who shrank back. “And are you? What, were we too young to know the truth? Were we not trustworthy enough?”

“And if I told you that the emperor of the changelings was another human, what would you have said then?” Gabriella snapped back at the younger griffon.

Silica raised an eyebrow at this. News had reached the Dragon Lands about a new ruler of the changelings across the ocean. This Jason Wright had apparently invaded and done some serious damage to Equestria three months prior. But to be told he was a human? She was all sorts of confused, now. However, as much as she wanted to ask, she knew she wasn’t a part of this group’s dynamic.

Just then, Gabriella stood and stomped the ground with her fist. “Enough!” she shouted. Everyone in the group froze to turn towards her. There was a fierce blaze in her eyes as she continued, “Gregory wished to hide that fact until the time was right to tell the others! Not only that, but he was worried he’d be looked at differently if everyone knew about Jason Wright being another human! We kept his secret because he asked us to!”

Gallus and Gia looked properly scolded as they looked down at their food. “Does he not trust us as much?” he asked.

“When we find him, you can ask,” Gabriella said.

Silica, feeling like she’d stepped on some major issue she hadn’t meant to, slowly moved out of the circle. “Please excuse me, I can see you’re having a moment.” With that, she stood and made herself scarce.

When she rejoined the others, the Dragon Lord moved over. “What was that about?”

“I think I accidentally brought up a subject that’s a sore spot for them,” Silica said sheepishly as she took a small swallow of her water. “And I learned something new.”

Ember looked over at them, then back at Silica. “What did you learn?” she asked.

“Apparently, the new changeling emperor we’ve heard about is another human,” Silica said.

Ember’s jaw dropped at this revelation. The other dragons nearby who’d overheard also turned and looked at her. After a while, Ember cleared her throat. “Well, that’s…I don’t know what to do with that new information. It’s not like the changelings have any diplomatic ties with the dragons. And they did just invade Equestria.”

“Still, another dragonrider in our world?” a nearby dragon said, “Shouldn’t we go and greet him?”

“He rules the changelings,” Ember repeated. “I don’t know…”

“Hey, excuse me?”

Silica, Ember and the other dragons looked up to see Starlight Glimmer walking up to them. Silica looked back and saw that the group from Griffonstone had apparently calmed down. Ember looked up at the pony. “What is it?”

She turned first to Silica. “Listen, I’m really sorry for earlier,” she said. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s alright,” Silica said.

Starlight smiled a bit before she turned to Ember. “Also, I overheard you talking about Jason Wright.”

“The changeling emperor? What about him?” Ember asked.

Before Starlight could continue, she was joined suddenly by the zebra of the group. “If it ‘s a tale about Jason you seek, beware. His story is not for the meek.”

Silica looked at Zecora. “You know about that other human?” she asked.

Zecora nodded, then dropped her rhyming scheme completely. The Griffonstone group came over mere moments into her story. Silica’s first reaction was disbelief at all she was hearing. Then she felt horrified. Lastly, she felt unbridled rage directed at the ponies, but also at Discord. The hated draconnequus had been reviled by dragons for over a millennia ever since he permanently altered dragon physiology so their bodies had certain physical reaction to emotions. It was because of him that greed-induced bigness was a thing. She inwardly cheered when Zecora reached the part of the story where Jason and the changelings invaded Canterlot and burned Ponyville to the ground.

When the story was finished, the dragons and even the two younger members in the group from Griffonstone were stunned into horrified and angry silence. Dragon Lord Ember was the first to speak. “I always knew ponies were xenophobes, but to take it thighs far? Perhaps it’s time I reconsidered any sort of diplomatic or trade deals with them…”

“Not all ponies are like that,” Starlight said weakly.

Silica, not wanting the party to dissolve into arguments, nodded and looked at Ember. “I agree,” she said, “but you have to admit that some ponies have problems with other races, if that story is any example. And of course it was that bastard Discord who started things.” She added the last part with a hateful tone, sparks of flame coming from her mouth.

“I, for one, am glad he’s finally dead,” General Rhyo, who had joined the lead team, said as he took a large bite of meat. “That monster is responsible for the permanent alteration of our bodies so it reacts to our emotions.”

Starlight looked stunned by this revelation. Zecora also nodded. “For me and my kind, he was quite a scourge. Because of him, our early history was purged. Not only that, but our rhyming speech emerged.”

“…Wow…the more I hear about this Discord, the less I like him,” Starlight said. “He sounds like a real monster.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was responsible for the disappearance of Nova America,” Ember said as she finished her meal. She stood, grabbed her scepter and struck the ground with it. “Now then, we leave in five minutes. We’ve spent too much time here already.”

Five minutes later, as promised, the group resumed their flight. As time went by and they continued searching, Silica noticed that the gemstones in the ceiling began to change colors until they seemed to match the colors of sunset. Soon, the gems began to dim as if mimicking the approach of night.

Fortunately, a scout from one of the neighboring groups to their left came flying and reporting that they’d found what looked like some sort of exit. Both Ember and Gabriella ordered the group to change course. As they flew, Silica noticed that the ceiling began sloping slowly downwards until finally they reached a spot where it took a sharp dive down, forming a large wall with massive mushrooms growing out of it. Silica saw that the majority of the other groups appeared to have gathered in front of a clearly artificial archway built into the side of the wall.

When they landed, Silica took in the shape and size of the archway and surmised that it was large enough for even the largest dragon she knew of, the former Dragon Lord, to enter with ease. The archway led into a tunnel and she could see a musky red light at the end of the tunnel.

Ember, on the other hand, seemed to be looking at the increasingly darkening ceiling above them. “I think we should make camp for the night,” she said. “I doubt we’ll be able to see anything on the ground unless we want to go walking instead.”

Silica saw Gabriella’s face fall at that, but after speaking to Starlight and Zecora, she nodded. “Which side of the cave should we stay on?”

“That depends on what the other side is like,” Ember replied. “I’ve gotten reports of massive monsters from the other groups, but there were also large plant eaters too.”

“The creatures I saw looked like ones I’ve seen in an ancient zoology book,” Starlight mentioned. “I’m no expert, though, so I can’t say for certain.”

“While there’s still light, we should go and see what’s on the other side of this passageway,” General Rhyo said. “Then we can determine where to set up a campfire and sleep for the night. Any volunteers to come with me to see the other side?”

“I will,” Silica said, her curiosity burning.

Rhyo chose her and three other dragons, the latter all armored. The cavern they passed through had to have been at least a mile long and had small mushrooms and a few phosphorous vines growing out of cracks in the walls.

When they reached the other side, Silica noted immediately that the difference between where they had been and where the cave lead was like night and day. Because unlike the strange tropical landscape they’d appeared in, what she saw before her wasn’t some tropical landscape full of tall mushrooms, large trees and reptiles. Instead, she found herself looking at a desolate arid landscape with absolutely no vegetation. In the distance, she saw mountain ranges and even some clouds. Just like the cave they’d just come through, there were large crystals in the ceiling that seemed to be emulating the sun at late sunset.

When they flew out to get a look at where they’d come from, however, Silica and the others were confused to see that they appeared to have come out of a large column about five miles in diameter, much smaller than the landscape they had flown through. Unlike the natural forming columns in the place before and in this place, the column they’d come out of was smooth and had an artificial look to it. Far in the distance, one of them spotted see yet another column of similar proportions.

As they headed back to report their findings to the others, Silica couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of place Tartarus really was.

---

---

December 25^th. A day normally set aside for the celebration of Hearth’s Warming among Equestrian citizens. But for one Princess Luna Nightingale, there had been no celebration. No presents exchanged with her sister as they had done in the years before. The castle even looked the same. The city had a slight festive look to it, but not nearly as much as it had in the past. The mood was a somber one.

Luna was sitting at Celestia’s desk, using her pair of magically enhanced glasses to speedily over various reports and requests from citizens of Canterlot, Ponyville and a few other nearby settlements. She was exhausted, she was frustrated and not even her daily cheese snacks did anything to abate her mood.

Nearby, sitting at her own desk, Raven Inkwell looked over other reports, reading them with her own pair magically enhanced glasses. She was sorting them into two piles, one being very important and the other being of less importance. When Luna had asked why she did it like this, Raven replied that it had been Celestia’s wish to respond one way or another to each and every request. Luna sighed, remembering just how things had been done back before her banishment. Back then, things had been so much simpler. The two had more power over events and how things were run, but with a thousand years difference, it seemed as if the nobleponies had grown more powerful.

She sighed and rubbed her head with her hoof. She was getting yet another headache. She wondered just how Cellie did all of this. She’d only been at this for a hoofful of days and already she wanted to pull her mane out. But she had promised that she’d take are of things while her sister and the Elements were in Griffonstone, so she grit her teeth and looked at the next scroll.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Grateful for the reprieve, Luna looked up to see a gray unicorn stallion with black mane and tail walking in. His cutie mark was a set of glasses similar to the ones he wore. Luna immediately recognized who he was, and a small smile formed on her lips. She looked at Raven. “Miss Inkwell, we believe the time has come for the day’s work to cease. You may go now.”

Raven looked up with confusion at that. “But Your Highness, there’s still a lot to do-”

“It’s Hearth’s Warming, Miss Inkwell,” Luna interrupted her. “Go out, have some spiced egg nog, eat some sugar cookies, and just relax for the evening.”

Raven looked quickly at the newcomer stallion, then back at Luna. Finally, she nodded, removed her glasses, slipped them into her desk, put her normal black rimmed glasses on, then packed her belongings and headed out. When she was gone, the stallion used his magic to lock the door before turning back to Luna. The alicorn smiled wider as she stood, cast a sound suppression and anti-scrying spell around the room, then looked at the stallion. “This is an unexpected pleasure, my dear nephew.”

The stallion smiled back, raising his horn and casting a spell. The masterful disguise spell began to dissolve. He grew taller, his fur turned white, his mane a straw color, and whereas he hadn’t been wearing anything with the disguise, he was now wearing a white dress shirt with a black blazer and a light blue cravat. The disguised stallion was none other than her nephew Prince Blueblood. “Aunt Luna, it’s nice to see you too,” he said. He gestured to the couch on the wall opposite Raven’s desk. “May I?”

Luna nodded, and as Blueblood walked over to take a seat, she walked over to a nearby small icebox. Opening it, she grabbed a glass bottle of egg nog and poured two glasses. She gave one to Blueblood who accepted it gratefully. She took a seat back at her desk as Blueblood drank. “Are we to assume you didn’t come just to wish us a Happy Hearth’s Warming?”

Blueblood’s smile faded a bit, but he nodded. “Well, before I do get to the point of my visit, I do wish you a Happy Hearth’s Warming,” he said. He lifted his horn and it glowed its signature greenish blue. A small decorative box floated out of his inner blazer pocket and landed on the desk. “It’s not much, but I made you a present. I would give Aunt Celestia hers, but she isn’t here.”

Luna smiled and began opening her package. Inside was a small amethyst carving of herself, one frontleg lifted, wings spread wide and her head looking up. The carving stood on a marble stand. She looked at it carefully and saw a gold plate with the words Princess Of The Night engraved on it. She placed it back in the box and closed it. “We know just where to put this, Blueblood. Thank you. But what else has thee coming to us?”

Blueblood took a small sip of his egg nog, set it down, then straightened. “I just came from a secret meeting of the nobles. I’ve narrowed down which noble house might have been responsible for the attack on the Griffonian Chancellor.”

Luna sat up straighter, heart pounding in anticipation. Finally, a breakthrough! “Tell us,” she said darkly, “so that we may have their heads!”

Blueblood took a deep breath, then looked at Luna with a piercing gaze. “It was somepony or someponies from either House Avarice or House Shade.”

Next Chapter: 34: Reflections Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 45 Minutes