Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

"The Underworld is a dark and evil place, with dangers beyond any ponies imagination that would make the Everfree Forest look tame in comparison."

The cautionary words from the alicorn princess lingered in Twilight's mind as she and her friends make their way through the portal, even though they knew the mission to rescue Emerald from the clutches of Lucifer will be dangerous, they could not ignore her mother's tearful plea to bring her back from the Underworld. What the dark lord did at Canterlot was unforgivable; using Emerald as a vessel to bypass the barrier and destroying parts of the city in the process, the violet unicorn is determined to make Lucifer pay for his crimes not for Emerald or Future Applebloom's sake but for Equestria as well. Seeing the end of the tunnel straight up ahead, Twilight and her friends steps out from the portal as they finally arrive in the Underworld; a shadowy realm that resembles a gigantic, endless cavern deep beneath the outside world of Equestria. The air was damp and faint echoes of bone-chilling wails was heard from across this nightmarish place, causing most of the mane six to tremble with fear.

"Dear Celestia..." uttered a shocked Rarity.

"This place is really dark and scary..." whimpered Fluttershy as she hides behind Rainbow Dash.

"Oh come on, it ain't that bad." Rainbow Dash looked over to her scared friend.

"Then why are your legs shaking?" Applejack pointed out to the multicolored pegasus legs which were trembling.

"Uhh it's just cold here, that’s all." replied Rainbow Dash.

"Girls, I know that your all scared but lets not forget that we came here to find Emerald" Twilight reminded her friends. "We gave our word to Ms.Gemstone that we will bring her back."

"Your right, Twilight" said Applejack. "We can't let Ms. Gemstone down."

"Yeah, beside we been through worse before." said Rainbow Dash.

"There's no spooky place that stop us" said a confident Pinkie Pie. "Even if it's the Underworld itself!"

"We should keep our guards up, who knows what kind of creatures lurks in the Underworld." suggested Future Applebloom.

The others nods as Twilight uses her horn to create a light source and leads the gang into a dark tunnel. While traveling down further through the passageway, the ponies discovered claw markings on the walls and several bones of unknown creatures scattered across the ground. The gang continued their path down despite the frightening scenery and the sound of bloodcurdling yowls until they saw a dim light at the end of the tunnel, Twilight turns the illuminating spell off and they follow the light which led them into another area; A deep-red river that appears to extend as far as the Equestrian sea with a dense fog obscuring the view ahead.

"Where are we now?" wondered Applejack.

"I have no idea, I can barely see anything with this fog." said Twilight.

"Leave that to me" said Rainbow Dash as she flies up and circles around the area, collecting just enough to clear up a path which reveal the shore. Once Rainbow Dash lands down, the others catches up with her as they notice an old, wooden boat nearby.

"Oh good, we can use this boat to cross this river." said Applejack.

"But who would leave a boat at a place like this?" wondered Fluttershy.

"Who knows, as long as we don't have to swim across the water." said Rarity.

When the group got closer to the boat to use it, they found a skeleton of what appears to be a dragon and a long paddle by it's side.

"So much for that idea." said Rarity disgusted by the remains.

"It looks like this boat once belong to some dragon." said Applejack.

"Lets just toss these old bones out of the way and get on the boat." suggested Rainbow Dash.

"Who are you calling old bones?" the skeleton suddenly spoke, causing the ponies to jump back as the skeleton rises up, stretches his arms out and cracks his neck. "Oooh that was relieving, I needed that nap."

"Who...or better yet, what are you?" asked Twilight.

"What am I? You ponies act like never seen a living skeleton before" the skeleton replied. "But If you must know, my names Charon, I'm the ferryman that escorts the departed through the river Styx and you ponies don't look dead to me."

"Because we're not." said Rainbow Dash.

"Ooh since your all bones, mind if I do this?" Pinkie Pie takes out a pair of small mallets and plays with Charon's ribs like a xylophone.

"Hey quit that, my rib cage is not an instrument!" Charon scolded the giggling pink mare.

"Actually, we're here to find a pony who like us is not deceased" said Twilight. "Did you happen to see a green unicorn with a black and white mane?"

"Hmmmm not that I recalled" said Charon. "I would have seen a pony like that and I have a good memory."

"I see but let me ask you another question, do you know where Lucifer is?" asked Twilight.

"Of course I do, I know the Underworld like the back end of my tail" Charon answered. "But if you ask me, I wouldn't go near him with a 20 ft pole even when he's in a good mood, Lucifer is an evil son of a b-."

"We get it" Twilight interrupted. "Can you at least help us cross this river so we can get to where he's at?"

"Only if you pay a toll, a dragon like me got to make a living in the Underworld." said Charon.

"Shoot, I didn't bring my bit bag with me." Twilight said to herself.

"Here you go" said Pinkie Pie as she hands Charon several bits. "I always keep an emergency bit stash in my mane."

"Alright ponies, hop on aboard." said Charon as he and the gang step on to the boat. "This is gonna be a long ride."

Charon uses his paddle to row the boat across the river Styx and into the thick mist ahead, it took them about at least half an hour to pass through the mist as they traveled towards a clearer path. As time passes by, the gang were trying to keep themselves busy knowing that the boat ride was going to be long. Fluttershy was staring at her reflection in the river when suddenly a hoof came out from the water, causing the yellow pegasus to scream and fall back as she and her friends watches a stallion earth pony with two empty eye sockets trying to climb on the boat.

"Help me..." the stallion pleads to the horrified ponies. "Help me!

Then another hoof grabs onto the boat as a unicorn mare with stitches all over her body tries to reach for the group.

"Get us out of this place!" the unicorn cries out to the gang.

Charon suddenly whacks the two mutilated ponies with his paddle, causing them to let go and sink back into the river.

"Stop rocking the boat before I kill you again!" growled the ferryman.

"Charon....just what were those ponies?" asked a horrified Applejack.

"They looked like something out of a horror novel." stated a quivering Rarity.

"What you just saw were the souls of the damned, those who have committed sins in their lives spend their time wondering endlessly in this river" the skeleton dragon explained. "The worst part of this job is that they always try to get on this boat thinking that they could be saved, its annoying."

"I kinda feel bad for them..." said Twilight staring at the water.

"I don't, these souls have done a lot of bad things while they're alive" said Charon. "But you ponies don't seem the type who would end up here when you die, you should considered yourselves lucky."

Pinkie Pie curiously gaze at the river when she takes a deep breath and was about to dunk her head in.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." warned Charon which made Pinkie Pie stop.

"Why's that?" asked the pink mare.

"I once fell into this river a long time ago and I ended up looking like this, all bones no thanks to these bloody souls." said Charon.

"On second thought, I prefer to keep my skin intact." said Pinkie Pie who backed away from the water.

"How far is it from Lucifer's place?" asked Future Applebloom.

"The trail leading to where he's at is not too far from here" the skeletal ferryman replied. "But you will have to go through several places to get there, the first will be the Fields of Punishment and after that is the Forest of Fear."

"Fields of Punishment?" asked Applejack.

"Forest of Fear?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The Fields of Punishment is where those who caused tremendous pain to others in their past lives suffer a karmatic fate for eternity and the Forest of Fear is where your worst nightmares comes to life" Charon described the details. "The last time I was at the latter, I couldn't sleep for a week."

"We're willing to take that risk." said Future Applebloom.

"The start of the trail is straight up ahead." Charon informs the gang as the boat reaches to shore and the ponies steps out.

"We'll take it from here, Charon" said Twilight. "Thanks for helping us cross the river."

"All in a good days work" said Charon. "Good luck finding your friend, you're gonna need it especially if you encounter Lucifer."

And with that, the skeletal ferryman paddles the boat back to the river as the gang continues their journey through the depths of the Underworld. Soon after, they find themselves near an enormous black canyon that stretches vastly across the area. When the group reach towards the cliff side, they look down at the bottom of the canyon and witnessed something that horrified the ponies; souls of the deceased being subjected to brutal torture methods by demonic creatures near a river of lava that flows across the canyon, their screams of agony echoes through out the chasm as the gang watches in horror.

"This must be one of the places Charon told us about, the Fields of Punishment..." said a stunned Twilight.

"Oh...my..." gasped a wide-eyed Fluttershy.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." said Applejack who turn green.

"This is beyond horrible!" exclaimed Rarity.

"It's like something out of a very scary dream" stated Pinkie Pie. "Only that we're not sleeping!"

"There is absolutely no way we're going down there!" said a nervous Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash is right, it's too risky to follow the path leading down below" said Future Applebloom. "Our only solution is to find a short cut across the canyon from above."

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Applejack. "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are the only ones who can fly over it."

"Which gives me an idea" said Future Applebloom as she explains her plan to the gang. "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy will scout the area from the air, I'll give them each a smoke ball so that if they do find a safe spot, they can use it to signal us while Twilight conjures a spell to teleport the rest of us to that area."

"Can you do that for us, Twilight?" pleaded Pinkie Pie. "We really, really don't want to go down there!"

"I'll try but it will drain a portion of my magic transporting five including myself in a far distance." stated Twilight.

"Better make this count, we can't afford to make any mistakes" said Future Applebloom. "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, are you ready?"

"As always." Rainbow Dash said proudly.

"Well..I guess I am ready..." stuttered Fluttershy.

Their plan begins with the two pegasi taking off into the air after Future Applebloom gives them the smoke balls, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy searches the area from a bird's eye view while trying to avoid watching the horrid scene from the bottom of the chasm. Fluttershy tries her best to ignore the cries from the tormented souls, while Rainbow Dash reminds her friend that they are beyond their help in order to keep her mind focus on the plan. The two notice an area at the end of the canyon leading to a dead forest, seeing nothing suspicious or any dangerous creatures around, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy threw the balls on the ground which causes them to emit a huge amount of light-green smoke into the air. Meanwhile at the other side of the Fields of Punishment, the gang sees the smoke signal from afar.

"They made it" informed Future Applebloom. "Now's your cue, Twilight."

"Right, here goes nothing." Twilight's horn lights up and focuses her spell on the others as they instantly disappear in a flash of light. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy waited patiently at the other side hoping that the plan work, then they saw the rest of the gang reappearing near them.

"You made it" cheered Fluttershy. "I was a little worried that the spell wouldn't work out and...I don't want to think about it..."

"That took a lot of magic to perform." said Twilight who looked a little weary.

"You did good, Twilight" said Future Applebloom as she pats Twilight on the back. "Are you still gonna use your magic after that spell?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine" Twilight replied before turning her attention to the trees nearby. "It looks like this is the next place to go, the Forest of Fear."

"Isn't that the place Charon told us about, where your worst nightmares comes to life?" asked a shivering Fluttershy.

"It can't be as bad as the Everfree Forest, can it?" questioned Pinkie Pie.

"We can't be so sure about that" said Rarity. "It does seem a bit spooky to me."

"But it also leads to where Lucifer is at" stated Future Applebloom. "We'll just have to take this path since there's no other way around it."

Future Applebloom heads to the entrance of the forest as the others follows her from behind, despite being exhausted from having to teleport herself and her friends at a far distance, Twilight uses her illumination spell to guide them through the Forest of Fear. The woods was unlike the Everfree Forest near Ponyville which were thick with plant life and inhabited many dangerous creatures, the decaying trees in the area were warped in distorted positions that in a slight angle, they look somewhat alive from their point of view.

"It's awfully quiet for a place like this in the Underworld." said Twilight.

"It's too quiet if you ask me" said Future Applebloom. "Something about this forest doesn't seem right..."

Unbeknownst to the group, a smoky mist was seeping out from the trees as it begins to fill the forest and slowly creeping up behind the unexpected ponies. The mist catches up with the gang who finds themselves within its grasp and the first thing they heard was a loud, terror-filled scream coming from Rarity.

"Rarity!" Twilight turns to see Rarity panicking.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, GET AWAY FROM MEEEEEE!!!" screamed Rarity who in her eyes, sees a gigantic mud-like monster covered with trash trying to grab her but the white unicorn trots rapidly to avoid it.

"What in the world is gotten into-" Applejack stops in mid-sentence as she finds herself at Sweet Apple Acres, which was reduced to a dried up wasteland and now infested by a pack of timberwolves. "What the..."

The timberwolves set their eyes on the frighten earth pony and started to chase after Applejack; who in reality was running around in circles in the forest much to the others confusion. Fluttershy blinks for a second and when she open her eyes, she was back at her cottage but what the pegasus saw made her jaw drop; the Everfree Forest burning in a sea of flames along with the woodland creatures she cared for, causing Fluttershy to scream at the top of her lungs as she tries to run away only for Rainbow Dash to catch her.

"Fluttershy, there's nothing there in this forest that’s-" the scenery changes around the prism-mane pegasus who finds herself near Cloudsdale, which was crumbling right before her very eyes. She flew over there in a desperate attempt to save her hometown, only to fall straight down as her wings wither and break apart.

"NOOOOO, SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!" cried Rainbow Dash who fell to the ground believing that she was falling from the sky.

Pinkie Pie on the other hand had a nervous look on her face as she was on the stage of a comedy club, only that the audience were not laughing at her jokes and threw food at at the pink mare. While they torment Pinkie Pie about her performance, their cruel remarks brought the cheerful pony into tears.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!!!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she tries to shield herself from the projectiles.

"Whats happening to every pony?" worried Future Applebloom.

"It's this mist" stated Twilight. "Charon said this place brings your worst nightmares to life, this mist must be what's causing them to experience it!"

"We got to snap them out of it before we get-" Future Applebloom goes silent as the mist took effect on the yellow earth pony, her eyes widen with horror as the forest around her changes into something she would have never thought to see again; the destruction of Ponyville. Everywhere around her were corpses of the slain civilians, dragons hovering above the town and setting homes on fire. Future Applebloom turns to run but stops when a familar figure stood in her way; an severely burnt earth pony with bones protruding out of her flesh and strains of her blonde mane hanging down over her lidless green eyes.

"A-Applejack?" stammered Future Applebloom, frozen with fear.

"Why....." Applejack spoke with a hiss while glaring at her sister. "Why didn't you save me and the rest of our family?"

"I.....I....." The yellow pony choked by the words of her deceased sister.

"Everypony would still be alive if a weakling such as yourself didn't interfered." the burnt earth pony harshly taunts her as others who've died in Future Applebloom's time appear behind Applejack.

"No...no, that's not true" cried Future Applebloom, backing into a pile of rubble as the undead ponies swarms around her with no way out. "You....you don't mean that, you gave your life to save me, I couldn't do anything as a filly, even if I tried...."

"I should have left you back at the farm where granny and Big Mac met their demise, as far as I'm concerned, a pathetic pony like you is no sister of mine..." Applejack said coldly as she and the others moves closer to the frighten pony.

"Applebloom" a voice echoed in her mind. "Applebloom...APPLEBLOOM!"

A jolt of electricity shocks Future Applebloom's body, causing her to snap out from the nightmarish illusion and back to reality where she sees Twilight who cast a magic barrier around them to shield against the mist.

"Twilight?" The yellow mare said a bit dazed. "What did you just do to me?"

"I use a lightning spell hoping that it would disrupt the effects of the mist, it looks like it work though" Twilight explains. "Are you feeling alright, Applebloom?"

"Y-yeah, for a moment I thought I was..." Future Applebloom pauses for a second about the horrid illusion she endured but quickly brushes it aside. "Never mind that, use the same spell on the others and fast!"

Twilight nods as she lowers the barrier and fires a wave of lightning bolts at her friends, one by one they were struck by the bolts which shocks them out of the fear-induce illusions and finally came to their senses.

"What the?" said a confused Rainbow Dash. "Wasn't I just-"

"We'll explain later, right now we need to get out of this forest as fast as possible!" shouted Twilight as she and the rest of the gang ran through the woods while avoiding contact with the mist. Seeing the exit straight ahead, the ponies sprints out of the forest and stop to catch their breaths.

"That....was the worst thing I've ever experienced!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Your telling me..." Applejack agreed with the fashionista pony. "I was almost close to becoming timberwolf chow."

"No ponies were laughing at my jokes, they were even throwing food at me and not the good kind!" Pinkie Pie sadly stated.

"Cloudsdale was falling apart and there was nothing I could have done about it..." said Rainbow Dash with her head down.

"It got to me too..." Future Applebloom admitted. "If it weren't for Twilight's quick thinking, we would had a permanent stay at that forest."

"Don't let it get to you, they were only illusions meant to trick you into thinking they were real" Twilight explained. "Now that we're out of the forest, our last stop is to go where Emerald is being held at..."

"Lucifer's place..." said Future Applebloom as she and the others discovers a towering dark castle on the horizon. The castle stood on a rocky platform with a bridge that stretches half a mile across a ravine which unlike the Fields of Punishment, it was completely bottomless and not a shed of light can be seen within its void.

"We made it..." said Twilight, relieved that they arrived at their destination.

"There's no turning back from this point, its time that we confront Lucifer and make him pay for what he's done." Future Applebloom said as the others share the same determination of the future pony.

The gang leaves the forest area and makes their way towards the dark lord's castle, on the bridge were statues of gargoyles holding crude-looking weapons with blood-lust expressions that made Fluttershy and several others unease by their presence. They arrive at the giant door which Twilight uses her magic to open it and upon entering, the castle interior designs were enough to them sick to their stomachs; hundreds of bones and skulls of ponies and different species were hung up on the walls and even used as furniture. Rarity faints from the sight but Applejack catches her before she could hit the ground, despite being disturbed by the grotesque scenery in the main hall, the gang went up the stairs and goes through a long hallway where they see several doors on each sides and a huge metal door at the end.

"Hmmmm, something tells me that Lucifer is in here!" Pinkie Pie goes to one of the doors hoping that Lucifer would be inside but as she opens it, a red light flashes out along with sounds of agonizing screams. She instantly closes the door with her face turn completely white and her mane standing up.

"Nope...not in there" squeaked Pinkie Pie. "In fact, lets not open any of these doors and just go to the one at the end of the hallway instead."

"That would be a good idea..." Twilight agreed.

Taking Pinkie Pie's suggestion, the group heads to the end of the hallway and carefully opens the metal door to reveal the throne room of the dark lord. To their surprise, the room was rather empty as Lucifer was no where to be seen, they were expecting to see him sitting on the large black throne with a pentagram symbol at the end of the room. Twilight notice something different about the throne as there were several bars underneath the seat like a cage, but what caught her attention was that inside of that cage was a familiar pony. Twilight went closer for a better view and there she finds Emerald sleeping inside with a chain collar attached to the bottom of the cell.

"Emerald!" shouted Twilight, causing the sleeping unicorn to wake up.

"Huh? H-hey, what are all of you doing here?" asked a surprised Emerald.

"We're here to rescue you, sugarcube." informed Applejack.

"Your mother was really worried about you, especially after you got sucked up in that vortex." said Fluttershy.

"Once we break you out, we can finally leave this dreadful place and-" Rarity spoke before Emerald cuts her off in mid sentence.

"No! Don't do that!" yelled the frightened unicorn.

"Why not? Don't you want to go back to Equestria?" asked Twilight, confused by Emerald's sudden outburst.

"Y-you don't understand, all of you need to get out of here before he comes back!" warned Emerald.

"We can't just leave you here, Emerald" said Rainbow Dash. "Not after what we went through just to find you!"

"Please listen to me, you have no idea what Lucifer is capable of and if he finds you here, he'll-"

"Well...well...well, what have we here? A group of ponies attempting to rescue this poor, imprisoned unicorn, how very noble..." A familiar voice suddenly interrupts Emerald, the alerted gang looks around but doesn't see anyone in the room.

"Oh no..." Emerald whimpers in fear.

"Lucifer..." growled Future Applebloom.

"Where is he? I don't see him anywhere!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Lucifer, it's time that you stop hiding in the shadows and reveal yourself this instant!" demanded Twilight.

"As you wish..." a shadowy mist seeps out from all corners of the room and gathered towards the throne, the gang watches as the mist takes shape of a figure sitting on the throne and materializing into the lord of the Underworld's true psychical form; A dragon with scales black as pitch and golden eyes that emits a calm but murderous glare. Lucifer had a scar across his right eye and his spikes were flowing black flames that runs down from head to tail. He wore crude-looking armor made of leather, metal and even skulls on his shoulders that gives him the look of a barbarian king. Even when sitting down on his throne, Lucifer's size was equal if not greater than the spirit of chaos Discord and clearly towers over the ponies. Emerald backs herself into the corner of the cage like a scared animal, the gang however maintained their stance against Lucifer despite his intimidating appearance.

"Here I am..." The dark lord grins.

"Applebloom, is that really him?" whispered Applejack.

"Yes, I can never forget that sadistic mug of his..." Future Applebloom replied.

"Now that you've finally shown yourself, we demand that you release Emerald to us or else!" Twilight warned Lucifer who doesn't seem to be impressed by the unicorn's threat.

"You honestly believe that I would just hand you what is already mine? In case you ponies have forgotten, Emerald has already signed the contract that in turn for her mother's complete health, her body and soul is considered property of mine." Lucifer explains to the group with an arrogant smirk.

"What right have you to say that Emerald is your property?!" protested Rarity.

"Emerald isn't just some "thing" you can claim!" yelled Fluttershy.

"That's just wrong, you can't own somepony and treat them like dirt!" Rainbow Dash argued.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Lucifer says this as his finger points down directly at Emerald, who suddenly felt an extremely painful electric shock pumping through her entire body. Her agonizing screams were loud enough to be heard from outside the castle, a sick smile appears on the Underworld ruler's face as he tortures the defenseless unicorn mercilessly for several seconds before finally stopping, causing her to collapses to the floor as Emerald cries from the excruciating pain inflicted on her. Twilight and her friends were in complete and utter disgust when Lucifer sadistically laughs at Emerald's misery.

"Hear that? That's the sound of music to my ears." Lucifer crooned in a state of bliss.

"You...you heartless monster!!!" shouted Twilight, angered by the sick enjoyment Lucifer displayed while torturing Emerald, she uses her magic to equip the Elements of Harmony on herself and her friends. Just as they prepare to make their move against the dark lord, Lucifer aims his finger at Emerald with the intent to hurt her.

"Uh uh uh, I would think twice about using the Elements of Harmony on me, unless you want to bring this pathetic unicorn back to Equestria as a corpse." Lucifer warns the Mane Six who reluctantly stands down, knowing well that they didn't want to see Emerald being tortured again or worse.

"I know all too well about the Elements of Harmony; the greatest weapon in Equestria, it was your princess who used it to lock me away in this damned world..." Lucifer continued, showing a hint of resentment against the alicorn princess. "For centuries, that accursed seal Celestia placed upon this realm has prevent me from accomplishing my goal to take over Equestria."

"And when the seal's strength began to diminish, it was the right opportunity to carry out your plan to exterminate Princess Celestia before then, isn't it?!" Twilight countered.

"While I cannot leave the Underworld psychically but with the seal's current state, my powerful magic can still pass through. All I had to do was to search for the most miserable pony out there and convince them to do my bidding..." bragged the dark lord.

"That's where you found Emerald, you promised her a better life by tricking her into signing your contract and having her kill Princess Celestia for you." said an enraged Future Applebloom. "Even so, you still planned on tossing her aside like a broken toy!"

"To tell you the truth, I look down on all forms of life and see them as nothing more than mere objects to be used, just like this pathetic unicorn you've traveled so far to rescue." Lucifer's foot kicked the bars of Emerald's cage, scaring the tormented pony and further provoking the enraged group.

"Vile beast!" hissed Rarity.

"How could you be so cruel?!" scolded Fluttershy.

"You're beyond despicable!" shouted Applejack.

"I oughta kick your scaly @$$ for that!" barked Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, he's a big bully who enjoys hurting ponies for fun!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"You are the true embodiment of evil, Lucifer! I know now that you have no redeeming qualities, you take a delight of causing sorrow and despair to anyone that you encountered! You deserve to be wiped out from this world, you barbaric bastard!" Twilight yelled at the dark lord, using a word she never thought to use even in anger.

The room went silence as Lucifer's expression turns cold from Twilight's outburst, causing the dragon to rise from his throne and taking several steps towards the gang with an icy glare. Twilight bravely stood face to face against the lord of the Underworld with no intent of backing away despite his intimidating size, which came as a shock to Emerald and even Twilight's friends who were worried about what could happen next. The two silently stared at each other for a brief moment before a smirk formed on Lucifer's face.

"The determined look in your eyes shows you have no fear of me, despite knowing what I'm fully capable of and that little speech of yours displays a strong desire to challenge me." Lucifer responded. "You're exactly like your princess, Twilight Sparkle. Never in my life would I encountered another pony with the same resolution as Celestia, since you and your friends went through so much trouble to get here, how about I make a deal with you?"

"What kind of deal?" Twilight wondered, confused by the dark lord's sudden change of attitude.

"I'll release Emerald to you with the contract null and void, making her a free pony so she can be reunited with her mother but under one condition; I want you to use the Elements of Harmony to erase the seal for me..." Lucifer stated his deal to the gang.

"What?!" Twilight gasped along with the others, including Emerald.

"You do want to bring Emerald back home safely, don't you? Unless something bad happens to her if you refuse, can you just picture how heart-broken her mother will be when she finds out that her only daughter has died, thus making your mission all in vain. So whats it gonna be?" The dark lord asked with a smug demeanor, leaving the violet unicorn to decide on accepting his deal or not.

"Don't do this, Twilight! Lucifer is trying to trick you into freeing him!" protested Future Applebloom.

"Please don't give into his demands, I don't want all of Equestria to suffer because of me!" Emerald cried out.

"You got to listen to me, the future in my time is already ruined because of him, I don't want the same thing to happen in this timeline" Future Applebloom pleaded with Twilight. "Think about it, there has to be another way around this..."

"I know of one way, Applebloom..." said Twilight as she turns around to face the dark lord. "Lucifer, I've made my decision; I accept your deal."

"You've made a wise choice, Twilight." Lucifer smiled.

"Are you out of your mind?! You realize that Equestria is now in danger because of-" Twilight quickly hushes Rainbow Dash and gathered her friends in a small circle to whisper something important to them.

"Ohhhh okay, I see where your going at, are you sure this plan will work?" asked Applejack.

"Yes, it's our only chance, so lets do this." Twilight replied as her friends agrees to follow her plan.

"Whatever you ponies are chatting about, it can wait..." Lucifer said as his patience was wearing thin.

"Sorry about that, can you show us where the seal is located?" Twilight asked the dark lord.

Lucifer nods and agreed to show the ponies the location of the seal while at the same time, he releases Emerald out from her cage as part of the deal. The black dragon leads the group down to the lowest floor of the castle; an underground cavern where they see a glowing symbol on the ground that bares a striking resemblance to Princess Celestia's cutie mark, the gang notices the signs of the seal's strength fading away as there were hairline cracks all over and the light shining from it was dimming repeatedly. Twilight and her friends gathers around the broken seal as they activate the Elements of Harmony, the mane six levitates in mid-air and uses the Elements power as the cracks around the seal spreads out. Once the light from it finally dies out, the entire seal shatters to pieces like glass and the shards quickly vanishes into thin air. Emerald and Future Applebloom watches the six creating a portal in it's place which shows an image of Equestria at night time, Lucifer stood by with a satisfied smirk as he sees Twilight walking towards his way.

"The seal is broken and we opened a doorway back to Equestria" Twilight informs the dragon. "Now we want you to return the favor."

"Very well" Lucifer replied as the contract with Emerald's name appears in his hand, he then tears it in two and the pieces burns to ashes. "Consider yourself free, Emerald. You are no longer of any use for me."

"I...I don't know what to say to this..." Emerald stuttered, she wasn't sure whether to thank Twilight and her friends for releasing her or to scold them for breaking the seal and letting the lord of the Underworld into Equestria.

"You can thank us later, Emerald." said Future Applebloom who winks at her, letting the unicorn know of what they were doing.

"At last, after being sealed for a thousand years, I can now truly leave the Underworld and bring eternal darkness to Equestria!" boosted Lucifer while standing in front of the portal. "And I have you ponies to thank for, I'll spare your lives for now since I need an audience to witness the destruction firsthand!"

The dark dragon laughed maniacally as he steps through the portal, hoping that the first thing he wanted to do was to destroy the nearest town he could find. But what Lucifer did not expect to happen next was that the moment he passes through the exit, he finds himself at a grassy field far away from any populated area and to make matters worse; the sun was still out and there were no clouds in sight.

"What?! NO, THIS CAN'T BE!!!" the dragon shouted in disbelief.

"What's wrong, Lucifer? Can't stand a little sunlight?" Lucifer turns around to see Twilight and the others stepping out from the portal which disappears upon exiting.

"You...You tricked me!" Lucifer growled at the violet unicorn.

"Princess Celestia told us about how she was able to defeat you before, the reason why you wanted to eliminate her in the first place was because of her power to control the sun, which makes you completely vulnerable!" Twilight clarified.

"Then that deal I made with you, you set this up, didn't you?!" Lucifer exclaimed.

"When we used the Elements of Harmony, not only we broke the seal but when we created the portal leading us out here, I used a spell to create that image of Equestria at night, knowing you prefer attacking countries at your most powerful state and you fell for it" The unicorn explained with a smirk on her face. "Oh and one more thing, that portal was a one-way exit, which mean you can't crawl your way back to the Underworld."

"You can't hide in the shadows anymore, Lucifer, it's time that you pay for your crimes!" said Future Applebloom.

Having been fooled by the protege of Princess Celestia, the dragon makes a low snarling sound as his body trembles with rage and hands clenching into his fists. With anger burning in his eyes, Lucifer rears his head back as he lets off a monstrous roar into the air, the black flames on his body flared violently and the surrounding area tremors from the sheer power coming off from the enraged dragon, as if a volcano that had been dormant for centuries finally awakes in a violent eruption.

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF THE LORD OF DARKNESS!!! I WILL NOT STAND BY AND LET A GROUP OF WRETCHED PONIES GET THE BEST OF ME, FOR THAT I WILL PERSONALLY END YOUR LIVES BY TEARING YOU ALL TO SHREDS! AND ONCE I'M DONE, I'LL SCORCH THIS PATHETIC COUNTRY TO THE GROUND AND EVERYONE WITH IT!!!!!!!" The dragon roars at the gang with intense hatred in his voice.

The mane six along with Future Applebloom and Emerald stood by each others side as they face against the lord of the Underworld, in an upcoming battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of Equestria's future. Should they succeed in defeating Lucifer for a brighter future or will history repeats itself as darkness swallows the peaceful kingdom like in Future Applebloom's time...

To Be Continued.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment