Hello, my readers. Sorry this took so long. Writer's block sucks. Thanks to my friend zodiacspear, however, this chapter can finally see the light of day. Anyway, I have an announcement to make. For anyone interested, another friend of mine, BladeOfThePoet, and I are writing a crossover between Metroid and Doctor Who in a joint account that we're calling Masters of the Multiverse. The story is called "The Doctor and The Hunter" (generic, I know, but, eh). If you're interested, or know someone who might be, go and give its first chapter a read. I promise you won't be disappointed. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Luna's eyes snapped open as she shot upright in her bed. Something had jolted her awake. Something wasn't right. She could practically feel an unnaturally familiar presence. It permeated the air with sheer power, made her skin crawl, a cold sweat run down her back. She felt something she hadn't felt in a long time; she felt fear. She scrambled out of her bed, disregarding her royal attire, and galloped as fast as she could to where she felt the source of this malevolent presence to be.

She pushed the doors to the throne room wide open, startling Celestia and several servants and guards. She looked around, panicked, trying to find the source. She saw nothing but ponies that she had grown accustomed to seeing around the castle, but she knew for a fact that the presence was coming from this room.

"Luna, is something wrong?" Celestia asked worriedly as she approached her sister. Her expression was one of evident concern.

"I sense a presence, sister," Luna explained, rushing about the room with her horn aglow, trying to locate the source. "It was coming from this room, but I cannot pinpoint it!"

The sun princess's eyes widened, and she immediately turned to one of her guards. "Take everypony out of here. Nopony gets in this room until we give the all clear." The guard nodded, and he and his comrades hurried the servants out of the room, then positioned themselves to stand guard just outside the doors. Celestia then faced her sister again. "You're certain it was coming from in here?"

"Yes, definitely." Luna briefly stopped her search to face Celestia. "It feels all too familiar, Celestia. It feels like Sombra's dark magic, but on a whole other scale."

Celestia narrowed her eyes and looked around the room carefully, her own horn now glowing brightly. "Then we'll need to find the source and…" She trailed off as she felt something odd around her hooves. Both princesses looked down to the floor to see some kind of black mist pouring in from the windows and balcony. "What in the…?"

Ahead of them, just in front of the throne, some of the mist rose into a mound of shadows, which gradually shifted into a form that vaguely resembled a horned head that bore eyes that burned with crimson malice.

"Princesses of Equestria," a deep, powerful, bone-chilling voice spoke. It was voice that flooded one's mind with fear. "Allow me to invite you to my kingdom."

"Those eyes!" Luna exclaimed in recognition. She bore nightmares of those eyes for a week after trying to help Twilight Sparkle with her night terrors. "You-!"

She couldn't finish her sentence. A tendril of black tied itself around her and Celestia's muzzles as more tendrils reached up and wrapped tight around their bodies, dragging them down into the black fog, which dissipated once they were completely submerged.

-o-

He stared, eyes wide, as she walk listlessly towards the red and black giant. Twilight's eyes were wide, but empty, as if she was some sort of trance. He could see traces of some kind of dark purple aura leaking from her eyes. Immediately realizing what that meant, Flash stepped in front the unicorn, trying to block her path.

"Twilight, stop!" he shouted at her, trying to snap her back into reality. She didn't speak, and only continued walking forward, trying to push past Flash, who held her back as best he could. She was surprisingly strong by unicorn standards. "Twilight! Snap out of it!" Twilight only continued to push forward, dragging Flash's hooves across the ground as she slowly made her way toward Tirek, who watched the scene with mild intrigue.

"Hmm… interesting," the behemoth grumbled as he watched Flash try futilely to stop Twilight. "Corrupted by darkness, and yet he still tries to save her. What an absolute fool."

Vexa stood beside the great beast, giving a derisive smile at the display. "It's simply precious, isn't it?"

"Disgusting is more like it," Sombra remarked. He looked to Twilight's dazed expression and grinned maliciously at the darkness that poured from her eyes. "And so she falls to darkness again, like a good little girl."

"That's enough!" A shout had the three looking to the side. Twilight's friends stood there, each of them glaring daggers at the three. "Let Twilight go!" Rainbow yelled again, her wings flared out to her sides.

Vexa smiled maliciously. "Why would we do that? She has chosen the Darkness of her own free will, and forsaken the Light. Who are we to change her mind?" she said in a sickeningly false voice.

"You liar!" Applejack yelled to her, the mare's heckles standing on end.

Vexa took on a look of mock hurt, placing one hoof over her heart "Liar? Oh, now that's just hurtful."

"Quit your meanie-pantsness and leave her alone," Pinkie Pie demanded.

Tirek's glare hardened and he lifted his axes. "Insolent whelp."

Sombra raised a hoof to the dark centaur, not that he could have stopped him that way if he could. "Don't bother. They are not worth the effort."

The centaur glowered at him. "You would let them live?"

Sombra grinned evilly, his fangs glistening. "For the moment. Let them know the despair of seeing the master released and of their friend's corruption before we send them to oblivion." He turned, an evil look on his face, towards the five friends. "She would gladly like to do it herself."

"You dastardly fiend!" Rarity yelled, her horn glowing brightly.

"You've seen nothing yet," Sombra said as Tirek dismissed his blades. The dark unicorn turned to Vexa. "Come, we have delayed long enough."

"Twilight! Please!" Fluttershy pleaded to her oblivious friend.

Twilight only continued her march towards the three, despite Flash's attempts to stop her.

Flash looked to her unseeing eyes. "Twilight, fight it. Don't let it—"

"Oh, for crying out loud." Flash was blasted aside by a green ray. Vexa glared at him in annoyance. "Give it up, lover boy. Your little girlfriend belongs to us."

Flash stood back up shakingly and glared at the changeling. "Let her go!"

"Enough," Sombra growled. "Vexa, the portal."

She snorted and the two of them began collecting energy around their horns. Both of their eyes went completely black as they casted their spell. Simultaneously, their magic arched out and formed a swirling vortex of maroon energy.

Sombra looked at Twilight. "Go."

Without a sound she stepped into the portal, vanishing in a flash of maroon light.

"No!" Her friends called after her.

Sombra snorted dismissively and he and Vexa stepped through the portal; vanishing as Twilight had. Tirek glared at the stunned assembly of ponies.

"The next we meet, it will be the last," he growled and stepped through the portal himself. After he stepped through, it slowly began to shrink on itself.

"No!" Flash ran and dove through the portal after them.

"Twilight!" Rainbow dashed ahead of her friends before they could stop her. They were barreled over as Chrysalis blew past them.

"You will not escape me, Vexa!" Both she and Rainbow jumped through the portal which closed before the others could pick themselves up. They could only stare at the spot where their beloved friend had disappeared.

-o-

Traveling through the different planes of existence was a new feeling to Rainbow Dash, and she didn't like it one bit. As she fell through the gate, she felt as if her insides were being tossed around; worse than any tailspin she had suffered. All around her, she could see swirling energies in a dizzying array. She closed her eyes tightly and prayed to Celestia that it would end.

Mercifully, it ended, and she was thrown roughly to a rocky terrain. She picked herself up with a groan and looked to her surroundings. Her ears fell flat to the sides of her head and she looked around in horror. All around her were tall dark spires of volcanic rock, the sky a turbulent storm of crimson lightning and deafening thunder. Unseen, mournful cries of ponies and other creatures echoed in a terrifying chorus of agony. This place felt… wrong.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud, honestly dreading the answer.

A groan from behind her had her whirling to face it. There was none other than Chrysalis, who stood shakily on her hooves. She, too, managed to get a look at her surroundings. Her eyes went wide in horror at the sights around her.

"Ancestors, preserve us," she muttered, her voice laden with what Rainbow could only assume was fear.

"What's with this place?" Rainbow demanded. "Where are we? Where are the others?"

Chrysalis shook her head, barely acknowledging the cyan pegasus. "This is the place where the damned and accursed are banished. This is…" She swallowed. "This is Tartarus. The Land of Damnation."

Rainbow's eyes went wide in horror. "This is Tartarus?" she asked, suddenly realizing just what those screams must've really been. She had only ever heard stories about this place. It was worse than she had ever imagined. "Why would they want to come here of all places?"

"Likely because this is where their master is trapped," the changeling queen theorized. She looked around again, as if trying to find any threats. "This place is home to countless monstrosities. We'll need to be careful if we even want to have a chance at surviving or find a way out."

"But what about Twilight? And Flash? And don't you want to hunt down that Vexa changeling?"

"Yes, but not when it means my odds of survival are practically nonexistent. No one is worth dying for in a place like this."

She turned to leave, to try and find some way to escape from this realm. Rainbow flew right in front of her, snarling. "We're not leaving without Twilight and Flash!"

"Get a clue, pony!" Chrysalis growled. "Sparkle chose the Darkness over you and your idiotic friends, and that Flash colt is probably dead already. Now, if you'll excuse me." She waved her horn, eyes closed. Nothing happened. Rainbow hovered in front of her, an eyebrow raise in confusion. Chrysalis opened one eye and looked around. "What in the…?" She shook her head and waved her horn again. Once more, nothing happened.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm trying to throw you out of my way!" the queen snapped. "What's going on!? Why can't I use my magic!?"

"How should I know?"

Chrysalis glared at the pegasus, desperately wanting to throw her into the nearest pit of lava. Instead, she sighed and composed herself as best she could. "There must be something about this place that cancels conventional magic. It would seem that I'm… powerless here." She rubbed her forehead, dreading what she was about to say next. "I suppose you're the only one I can count on for now until we get out of this forsaken place."

Rainbow gawked for a minute, then smirked. "All right! First thing's first! We're gonna find Twilight and Flash and bring them both back home!"

"And if Sparkle ends up trying to kill us because she's been corrupted by the forces of Darkness?"

"Well…" Rainbow descended to the ground, landing on her hooves. "Then… I'll just plant my hooves in her face until she snaps out of it." Chrysalis scoffed. "What?"

The queen rolled her eyes. "If only it were that simple," she said. Her voice held a tone that sounded almost remorseful. "Forget it. Let's just get moving. I'd rather not be found and devoured by some giant predator beast."

"Predator beast?" A bestial roar could be heard suddenly in the distance. It sounded large. "Okay, yeah. Let's move."

-o-

All was black. She was trapped in an empty void, floating in the vast nothing. She was cold. Alone. Where was this? The emptiness perturbed her. But, at the same time, it also comforted her. It was strange. It felt normal, too. She felt as though this was where she belonged. Part of her wanted to stay here. She was only a piece of something grander.

'Fight...' a voice said. Her ears twitched at its vaguely familiar tone. Had she heard it somewhere before? 'Wake up, child. It is not yet time.'

Before she could say anything, a light flared in the blackness, nearly blinding her. Then, she opened her eyes, and immediately wished that she hadn't.

She was in a barren waste, where craggy mountains cloaked in fire and towered in the distance, and the air itself nearly felt like it was on fire as well. She could feel an immense and terrible power everywhere, as if the very land was releasing dark magic into the world. To her left was some kind of river, filled with what appeared to be black water. She didn't need to be a genius to figure out that she definitely didn't want to go in their. This place was evil.

"Twilight!" a familiar voice called. Flash Sentry galloped over to her, looking distraught. He stopped in front of her, a look of slight relief crossing his features for a moment. "Are you all right? You… you were in some kind of trance or something."

"I… I don't know," she answered honestly. "I just… where are we? This place is… wrong."

"You should know what this place is, child," a powerful baritone boomed around them as mass of writhing shadows floated from the ground. Out of the shadows stepped none other than the evil king himself, Sombra, bearing a victorious grin on his face. "After all, you led its guardian back here some time ago, did you not? Then again, I suppose you only ever saw the gates."

Flash took a protective stance in front of Twilight as the mare's mind began to race. Guardian? The gates? Those things quickly clicked together, and her eyes went wide in horror. "This is Tartarus," she said.

"Tartarus?" Flash said, not taking his eyes off of Sombra. He shook his head. They'd have to worry about the where later on. "So, where's your buddies, Sombra? You here for a one-on-one flank-beating?"

The dark unicorn scoffed. "Hardly. Though, I admit, I find your eagerness for battle rather amusing. Almost reminds me of myself when I was young. Of course, I wasn't suicidal." Twilight took the moments that Sombra was speaking as an opportunity to try and teleport herself and Flash as far away as she could manage. All she got in the attempt was nothing. She tried again, and this time, Sombra took notice and laughed. "Don't even bother. Tartarus won't allow normal magic to work. Only two forms of magic work here, one of them being dark magic. My master made it so when he was first imprisoned here eons ago."

"Maybe she's desperate enough to try," another painfully familiar voice said. From the shadows came-

"Charter!" Twilight said as the young stallion made his presence known, a sickly amused smirk on his face. "Wha… what are you doing here?"

Flash growled. "You've got some nerve showing your face in front of me, you miserable-!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Charter inquired derisively as he walked closer to Sombra. Gradually, his form began to fade, splitting into small fractals of dark energy that flowed into Sombra's horn. "Are you going to kill that which never truly existed?" the dark king asked. Both Twilight and Flash stared with wide eyes, to which Sombra chuckled. "Surprised? I would expect that you would both know of simple illusion spells. Then again, I suppose it's fairly difficult to tell when one sees one that's so… thorough."

Twilight's mind reeled at that. Charter was an illusion the whole time? Just some act that Sombra put together? Why? What was the point? To gain her trust? To lead them to the Etna Key? No, it couldn't have been either of those. They already seemed to know that Flash was the Key all along. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"Simple," Sombra replied. "I merely wanted to see your reaction when you were betrayed by someone you grew to trust. It's a small hobby of mine to toy with ponies."

Twilight felt a part of herself die. "So… everything was a lie… all of it." She felt something bubbling inside of her. "You lied."

Flash briefly turned to Twilight. He knew she wasn't the most mentally sound pony, not since the assault on Canterlot. Not to mention everything that's happened since. And he doubted his own little speech to her friends right in front of her helped her any. The last thing she needed was something like this. "Twilight," he said, not looking away from Sombra, "don't let him get to you. He probably wants you angry."

Sombra smirked and chuckled. He eyed both the young ponies with an analytical glare that sent chills down their spines. He looked away from them, watching the sky that burned with flashes of blood-hued lightning. He almost looked… contemplative.

"Twilight," he said without turning to the ponies. She visibly flinched at the sound of her own name. "I don't believe I ever told you how I came to serve the one you call the Accursed One."

"Y-you're evil," Twilight responded quietly. That earned a boisterous laugh from the dark king, which was made all the more ominous by the blasts of thunder and lightning that surrounded them.

"To you and your associates, perhaps," he admitted, his grin unshaken. "Centuries ago, I was an ordinary unicorn, no different from yourself. I had friends. A budding relationship with a beautiful mare." His smile faded at the mention of a mare. "Until it was all torn away. And by none other than your precious Princess Celestia."

"Wh-what?" the young mare stammered.

"That's enough out of you, Smokey!" Flash exclaimed. "Stop spitting out lies and get out of our way so we can get out of here!"

Sombra glared at the young stallion with a small level of intensity. Flash didn't back down. For a moment, there was something of a glimmer in the dark unicorn's unnatural eyes. It was gone too fast for either of the young ponies to really guess what it might've been. "You remind me of myself when I was young, boy," he said deeply.

"I'm nothing like-"

"Oh, don't give me that. I said when I was young, not in present time." The dark stallion turned away from them again, once more watching the dark skies above. "Over a thousand years have passed since Celestia and Luna first defeated me. Over one thousand years since my life was devastated by those same wenches in royal attire." He faced both young ponies again. "Twilight Sparkle, you of all ponies should know that everypony chooses a side for one reason or another. You have been on both ends of the spectrum. You and I both know your own reasons. Now, I wish for you to know of mine. Is that too much to ask?"

Twilight blinked at him. He had reasons beyond just wanting power? He was nothing but a cruel, sadistic, manipulative monster wearing the guise of a pony! All he ever wants is power!

'But… so did I… at one point,' she argued with herself. She looked to Flash, who gave her a worried look. He didn't trust Sombra, for countless obvious reasons. She looked to Sombra, who seemed ambivalent to whether or not she would allow him to share his story. Reluctantly, she nodded, a grim curiosity taking over.

He didn't respond but to look back up at the sky again. He seemed to enjoy watching the black clouds be parted by the red flashes that tore through the sky. "Very well," he said. "I will tell you my story. It begins with the death of two ponies."