To Tartarus and Back

by Mad-Mutt

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Discord and Screwball are all dead… sort of. After a random accident these four unfortunate souls suffer an untimely near death and are stuck in the darkest reaches of Tartarus. As it turns out only being nearly dead isn't as bad as being totally dead. Can these four escape the underworld before the doctors pull the plug on them?

Down low:

"Twilight... wake up Twilight," came the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash.

Twilight's eyes slowly opened and she shook the cobwebs from her head. She wasn't sure where she was, but there was darkness on all sides with the smell of sulfur in the air. The only thing she knew for certain was that her and Rainbow Dash were in a jail cell of some sort and that raised more questions than it answered.

"About time you woke up. You sleep like the dead," Rainbow Dash said with a slight laugh as she hovered above. Twilight wasn't sure why her friend had found that so amusing.

"Dash... where are we?" she asked, then Twilight lit up her horn with a bit of magic to literally shed light on the situation. She quickly wished she hadn't.

The jail cell they were locked in was suspended by chains above a seemingly bottomless pit filled with pillars of fire and sharp spikes. Swarms of freakish demons flew in circles around the many other floating cells, each one of them more grotesque than the last. Screams of the evil dead bellowed out along with countless other indescribable sounds. It was the most head turning thing Twilight had ever seen in her life.

The cells were filled with all manner of ugly and unusual beasts that Twilight had only seen in old books of evil creatures. Everything in the pit of filth defied the laws of nature and made her usually logical mind nearly melt down. She could feel it as her heart pounded wildly against her chest, but she didn't scream for fear that one of those demons might notice and find themselves in the mood for pony flesh.

A giant winged eyeball with tentacles coming out of it flew up to the cell Twilight and Dash shared and peeked in. "You two don't look like demons," it said in surprisingly normal sounding voice. Twilight didn't even want to think about how that thing was able to talk without a mouth.

"We're not demons, we're ponies," Dash said back to the giant eye.

"Don't get much of you around here... oh well," the eye replied and then flew away.

"Hey! You're not going to let us out?" Dash called out, but when no response came she slumped down and mumbled, "What a jerk."

Twilight was on the verge of a mental break down. The hord of horribly hideous and hellish sights before her put every horror movie and story she had ever seen to shame. As her mind struggled to grasp what was occurring right before her very eyes, she slowly turned to her friend Rainbow Dash and with a quivering lip she asked, "Dash... where are we?"

"Can't you tell? We're in Tartarus," Dash replied with a shrug.

Twilight's jaw dropped. As shocking as the news was, seeing her friend being so indifferent to the unnatural sounds and roars of various demons as they went about their business was almost as mind blowing. Seriously, how could Dash be so mellow about this?

Tartarus was even more horrifying than the books she had read said it was. It was a festering pit filled to the brim with the screams and howls of demons that fought amongst each other like wild animals. Shouts of pain and agony came from above and below and there was no shortage of torture devices that were achieving their purpose very well. There was no reason for the images that went on in this pit of hatred and suffering, no just cause for what was happening right in front of Twilight's eyes. The only justification these demons had for all this pain and misery was the sick and twisted joy they took from it.

"Did you say Tartarus?" Twilight asked as her whole body trembled and jumped at the sound of a nearby creature begging for death.

"Yeah, you know about Tartarus? The evil pit filled with monsters and demons, Tartarus," Dash said in the same unfazed tone.

"Rainbow Dash... listen to yourself! How can you be so calm about this?"

From below, a gargantuan beast that closely resembled an angler fish emerged from the depths of Tartarus and devoured a fire breathing two headed deer. It happened so fast the poor creature didn't even have time to scream. That had been it for Twilight, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she passed out.

"And there she goes," came the eerie and almost supernatural voice of Screwball as she leaned on Discord's shoulder. "Did she even notice that we were here to?"

Dash just rolled her eyes and softly shook Twilight a few times until her eyes popped open. Twilight suddenly shot up, grabbed Dash by the face and shouted, "We're in Tartarus! What are we doing here, we're not suppose to be in Tartarus! How did we get here, this is a place for demons and the dark souls of the dead!"

Dash had to shove Twilight off of her. "Calm down Twi! Now don't freak out again, but you're... dead."

Twilight actually seemed to smile for a brief moment. "Oh, now I see, that makes sense... I'm what!?"

Twilight's sudden shout was almost ear splitting. It was so loud that it caused a nearby horned monkey that was perched on the edge of a pillar to lose his balance and fall howling into the abyss.

Once the ringing in Dash's ears stopped she went to stop Twilight from shaking uncontrollably and rambling to herself like a mad-pony. "Easy now Twilight, try to stay calm."

Twilight had at last noticed that she was somewhat see through like she was a ghost or something of the sort. "How did this happen? I'm a ghost."

"Two idiots fell on you," Dash replied while shooting Discord and Screwball a nasty look.

With that, Discord had at last decided to make his presence known. "I'm very sorry... I fell on you."

"I'm not, it was hilarious!" Screwball spoke up with a laugh.

Twilight leaped backwards with a loud yelp when she realised that Discord was standing right behind her. She pointed an accusatory hoof and Discord and shouted, "You did this to me! You killed me!"

"Not on purpose," Discord replied with false sincerity.

Screwball floated up in front of Discord and started to explain the events that had led up to Twilight Sparkle's untimely demise. She cleared her throat and began to speak with a disturbing amount of enthusiasm, "You see, I had just released my dad from out of his stone prison and was riding on his back when your rainbow friend over there crashed right into us."

"It was your fault for cutting me off in the middle of practice. Who just jumps on a pony's back like that and blindfolds her? You were just asking for touble," Dash explained.

Screwball rolled her spiral eyes and continued. "Well, thanks to that mid air crash, me and daddy fell right on top of you while you were out for a walk. It was kind of spectacular actually, the impact sprayed gore and blood in all directions and your head quite literally..."

"Please, spare me the more grimdark details," Twilight interrupted with her face turning sickly green. "Why do you keep calling Discord your dad?"

"Because he's my dad, duh," Screwball replied matter of factly. "For a genius you really are an numbnut."

Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hooves then asked, "Hold on, if you all crashed on top of me then doesn't that make the three of you...?"

At almost the same time Dash, Discord and Screwball said, "Yes, ghosts."

Twilight fainted for the second time and with a grone, Dash flew over to her and shook her a few times to wake her up. "Come on Twi, I don't know how you can pass out, being dead and all."

Twilight bolted up and started shouting again. "How can you be so calm about this, we're dead!"

"You asked me that already, and I know we're dead, but we got to stay calm."

"Stay calm! How can we stay calm! How come I'm the only pony freaking out here?"

Dash patted Twilight on the back before replying with, "I don't know, I guess I've had more time to get use to it. Plus, while you were out we got to talking and we have a plan to get out of here... kind of... I think."

Despite her mind being on the verge of shattering, Twilight was still able to notice Screwball giggling while she sat on top of his head. In the dark demon infested world of Tartarus she stood out as the one shining ray of joy. Nothing held in this twisted pit could bother her in the slightest and it was the same for Discord. Given enough time the two of them might even start to fit in.

Twilight looked from Dash to the two beings of pure chaos and then back at Dash. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"No," was Dash's fast reply. " Well, I don't know. Discord is a good guy now... right? Also, he did say he can fix our bodies so we can come back to life."

"He can?" Twilight blurted out in shock.

Discord gave a rather devious laugh and said, "Fixing up a few mangled bodies will be a simple task for me. Our real bodies aren't technically dead, despite all the damage. We were having an outer body experience when a jailer from Tartarus showed up and mistook us for some escaped demons. Apparently, Cerberus had to go to the vet."

Screwball gave a laugh. "Our souls were briefly... intertwined so our unnatural appearance must've been what made us look like a demon."

"Thanks for helping us anyways," Twilight said. She was starting to calm down and slowly growing more and more use to her new surroundings. Ponies are adaptable creatures.

Discord flashed a sly smile. "I'm not just helping you. Me and Rainbow Dash have made a deal and I never go back on my word."

Twilight gasped with her expression stuck somewhere between worry and anger. She ran up to Dash and placed her hooves on her friend's shoulders while she frantically asked, "What did that monster make you do? Don't worry you can tell me!"

"Cool it Twi, he just wants me to buy a movie for his kid."

Suddenly Screwball thrusted her hoof into the air in righteous fury and her eyes burned with the passionate heat of a thousand suns as she spoke. "It's not just a movie! Its the limited edition My Little Human DVD boxset with commemorative figurines, fold out poster and over seventy hours of bonus footage! There's only one of those left in Ponyville and I will not let Lyra beat me to buying it!"

Discord patted Screwball on the head. "Her first birthday is coming up and what kind of father would I be if I didn't get it for her. Or got someone else to pay for it."

By this point Twilight was sitting on her flank in stunned silence. Did she just here that right? The offspring of the deity of chaos is a MLH fangirl? She quickly shook the absurdity from her head and reminded herself that if something is the embodiment of disorder it probably doesn't care about making sense. Twilight let out a slightly frustrated sigh and said, "Okay... tell me about this plan of yours."

"Three out of four of us can fly, right?" Discord asked, obviously already knowing the answer.

"Yes, of course," Twilight replied.

"Well then, a cage suspended over a bottomless pit isn't much of a threat to us."

Suddenly Screwball hopped over Discord's shoulder and grabbed Twilight by the head and an tail. "So fire the magic cannon and run for it! Its prison break time!"

With a painful yank of Twilight's tail, Screwball made her shoot a blast of magic out of her horn on reflex that shattered the steel bars like glass. Screwball then threw Twilight on top on Rainbow Dash's back as they all took flight.

When they all made a break for it, a demonic jailer flew up swinging shackles above his head. He nearly managed to capture Rainbow Dash when he tossed the shackles at her back legs, but missed.

Instead of flying away as fast as she could, the now angry Rainbow Dash swung around and gave the jailer a strong buck right to his face. She must've broken his nose, because as he began his limp free fall he left a string of red crimson spouting forth from his nostrils.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you mess with me and my friends!" Dash shouted in triumph.

When Dash caught up with the other two, Twilight gave Screwball a very hostile stare and said, "You could have just asked me to blast the bars."

Screwball replied with a giggle and then she said, "You're right, I could have."

Above ground:

At a hospital in Ponyville, Applejack stood outside the room she had been looking for. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the worst, but nothing could've prepared her for what she was about to see.

When AJ opened the door she saw that Twilight and Rainbow Dash where lying in two separate beds right next to each other. Both of them were laying motionless and barely breathing while the little beeps of a nearby machine kept track of their heart rates.

Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike were at their bedsides, each one of them in tears. Pinkie was crying a river while Fluttershy could barely stand to look at her badly mangled friends. Rarity stood next to Spike who was falling to pieces over top Twilight's unconscious body. AJ could tell Rarity was trying to be strong, but distress was painted all over her face.

Rarity was the first to notice AJ had entered the room. The tears had caused her eyeliner to leak all the way down past her cheeks. Normally Rarity wouldn't have allowed herself to be seen this way, but she could care less about her appearance at this point. She couldn't even squeeze out a single word for fear that her hold on herself would break and she'd be reduced to crying her eyes out.

Spike on the other hand was letting his tears flow freely. He laid his head down on Twilight's stomach while Rarity patted him on his back to offer some kind of support. It obviously did little to relieve the poor little guy's distress.

AJ's eye's were drawn to Rainbow Dash first. Dash was in bad shape, with half her face and both her wings bandaged up. The bandages had spots of red all over them, the amount of bruises that dotted Dash's body was horrifying and all four of her legs were wrapped up in casts.

Dash had alway been so brave and brash, she wasn't afraid of anything and that made it all the more disturbing to see her like this. AJ's rough and tumble friend was now a broken and helpless sight. Despite it all, Dash was sleeping soundly while her wings were bent and twisted in some unrecognizable shape with blood stained feathers and a single bone popping out on her left one. It only took one look for AJ to know that Dash would probably never walk or fly again. She didn't need to know much about modern medicine to come to that badly depressing conclusion.

As damaged as Rainbow Dash was, it wasn't anything compared to Twilight. AJ was already in tears when she saw how ruined Dash was, but Twilight didn't even look like she was alive. She was riddled with bruises, broken bones and most of her face had been wrapped up in bandages with her horribly blackened right eye being the only visible part. The worst part was the amount of tubes the doctors had put into her to keep her alive and breathing. She was literally at death's door and there was nothing any of them could do to help her.

The pony lying in that bed didn't look anything like Twilight Sparkle anymore. AJ didn't even want to believe it really was, but as much as she wanted to deny it, under all the carnage, she could still see that familiar mane and cutie mark. The bandages that covered Twilight's face were painted red with her blood and the thought of what her face might look like underneath made AJ sick to her stomach.

The only sounds in the room were the beeps of the machines and the crying of AJ's friends. Pinkie and Spike were the loudest in their display of emotions, staining both their cheeks and the bed sheets with their tears. Fluttershy was nearly as loud, but she kept her face hidden under her long and pink mane. None of it seemed real, AJ felt like she was drifting to the beds unable to believe two of her friends had been reduced to such mangled sights. It was a nightmare, an awful and bloody nightmare.

While Spike continued to cry over Twilight's broken and barely breathing figure, Rarity beckoned AJ over with her hoof. The two of them trotted to the other end of the room where the weeping baby dragon couldn't hear them.

"They're hurt really bad Applejack," Rarity said while choking back her own tears. "The doctors... the doctors said that Rainbow Dash might pull through, but Twilight... she's... she's in too much pain. She can't even breathe without being hooked up to that machine."

More than a few sobs escaped from AJ when she tried to talk. "What are you saying Rarity?"

"She's not going to," Rarity started to say, but had to wipe away the tears with her front hoof, which became stained with her runny eyeliner. "Applejack, she can't live without those machines. Its not even living, and even with the machines she won't last much longer. She's going to... she can't hold on. They think... they think it would be better if we just..."

"Let her pass," AJ finished for her.

Rarity nodded and that was it, she started sob uncontrollably and AJ wrapped her hooves around her in a tight embrace. "I can't stand to see them that way. What are we going to do Applejack?" Rarity asked, but there was no answer and all she could do was cry on AJ's shoulder while AJ cried on her's.

Down low:

Back in the Tartarus a skinny and pale bug eyed demon by the name of Bobby the Bobber, according to his name tag was standing in line at a hotdog stand located just outside the jail room. It had just come time for Bobby to place an order when Twilight Sparkle snuck up from behind with steel chair and hit him in the back of the head.

"Sorry about that!" Twilight quickly apologized as she stole his keys right out of his pocket. None of the other demons seemed to even care that one of their own had been attacked so violently; one of them even took a picture.

Discord applauded Twilight's brutality and even blew a whistle. "Well done Twilight, make sure you improvise like that as much as possible. You'll need as much of your magic saved up if you want to cast that spell."

"Whatever Discord. I got the keys now where do we go next?"

"First we have to get a very special book and then we go to meet up with the others."

"Well lets hurry, I want to get this over and done with."

Discord just shrugged and rolled his eyes while Twilight apologised one last time to Boby the Bobber. With that done the two of them raced away from the scene of the assault.

Above ground:

The doctor had just entered the room where the bodies of Rainbow Dash and Twilight lied in their hospital beds. Spike had been glued to Twilight's side the entire time despite her depressing appearance. He was holding her hoof in his claws and gently stroking it while he sat next to the pony who had been like a sister to him without a single sound. He had stopped crying nearly an hour ago. It was as if he had literally cried himself dry.

Rarity gazed at the doctor, she knew he had come for Twilight. She tried to tell herself that it was better this way. Ending it like this meant that Twilight wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Rarity trotted up next to Spike and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Come on Spike, lets step out for a second."

"No, I don't want to leave her."

"Spike... you don't want to see this."

"I'm not leaving her!" Spike nearly shouted at Rarity. "I know what he's going to do. I'm not going to leave her. I'm... I'm staying."

Rarity could do or say nothing. All she did was hang her head in silence and choke down another sob.

Down low:

"This is my rainboom!" Rainbow Dash shouted out as she collided with an army or armor wearing skeleton ponies.

In an underground tomb, Rainbow Dash leaped over a horde of undead soldiers and delivered a violent buck to the jaw of a large winged beast that tried to bite her on the flank. Dash moved at eye popping speeds, knocking any demon or skeleton that got too close to her away with either her hooves or by head-butting them.

These things were all hideous abominations of nature, but they were also total chumps. They were all so weak and slow that Dash found little challenge in fighting with them. Shattering and splintering bones flew in all directions as she went to town on the undead minions of Tartarus like a prizefighter.

Dash was out numbered by the dozens, but she was stronger and faster than all of them combined. Especially the skeletons since they don't have mussels anymore. She had expected a challenge, but what she had gotten was one of the most one sided hoof-fights she had ever been in. Not that she cared of course.

While Dash brawled, Screwball strolled with her head up high. For some reason, none of the demons would even dare to go near her. One of them even turned tail and ran away while giving off a high pitched scream when she gave it a single look. Screwball was free to walk about as she pleased while the many demonic and undead creatures avoid her like the plague. Dash would've been jealous if she wasn't having so much fun.

Eventually, Dash and Screwball came to a large door with the words, 'Rune Room' marked on it. The words were in the language of demons, but Screwball could still read it somehow. The door was guarded by two spear wielding ogres that looked as tough as they were ugly. Dash was almost certain they'd put up a better fight than the last batch.

When Rainbow Dash squared off against them it looked like they were about to fight when they readied their spears for combat, but then they remembered the pile of beaten beasts that Rainbow Dash had left behind. The ogres looked at each other tossed their spears to the side and walked off with one of them saying, "Whatever man, me and my brother don't even need this job."

Dash blinked in surprise at first, but then her hubeis kicked back in and she shouted after them, "Yeah, you better run!"

"Nice to see you had fun," Screwball's voiced echoed in its eerie way. "Now we just have to wait for Twilight and my daddy to show up with the keys and the book."

"All ready here," Discord spoke as he spun the keys in his claws. "Lets hurry and get those runes. This place is nice for a visit, but I wouldn't want to stay."

Discord unlocked the massive stone door and the keys themselves turned to ash in his hand. He was slightly surprised, but the real shock came when a gigantic slimy tentacle shot out through the open door. Discord was just barely able to dodge the gross appendage, Dash on the other hand was wrapped up in its grasp before she even had time to react. The tentacle then jerked her pass the doorway while the other three chased after it.

The beast at the end of the tentacle was a gargantuan creature that looked like it belonged in the darkest depths of the ocean. It was covered in slime and grime, it had huge black orbs for eyes and its head was mass of flesh with a row of giant serrated teeth. The beast roared an unearthly sound as it hoisted Rainbow Dash into the aid.

"Let go of me you freak!" Dash shouted then she bit into the tentacle so hard she drew the creatures blood. It released her with a agonizing roar and Dash quickly took her chance to distance herself and spit the awful taste of that thing's blood out of her mouth. How could a ghost taste anything anyways?

"Well... that was a close call," Discord said.

Rainbow Dash landed right next to Discord and shouted, "Why didn't you tell us there was going to be a Cthulhu looking tentacle monster down here!"

"I didn't know!" Discord said with a shrug. "There are something that not even I know about!"

The creature's lair was a massive structure that was no doubt placed here to house such a beast to guard the runes they were after. Pillars of stone stood all around with bones sprawled about the ground from its many meals, a single giant lantern hung above the beast's head which was large enough to illuminate the entire area.

The beast thrashed about in anger and rage, whipping it tentacles around causing stones to crack and pillars to crumble to dust. Twilight and the others managed to take cover behind a long fallen pillar where the beast couldn't see them. The entire layer shook every time the demon among demons moved, sending shockwaves so powerful the rocks seemed to jump and dance on the ground. Each roar shook the very foundation to its core. This wasn't a creature of intelligence, it was a beast of raw power and fury the likes of which no one in Equestria had ever seen before.

"Go get him Twilight, I'll cover you!" Screwball said, half jokingly.

Twilight just looked at her for a moment in disbelief. "Yeah right! You go in there! You're the one with the chaotic powers!"

"I said I was going to cover you."

"Unless you're going to make an impenetrable giant monster proof wall around me, I'm not moving from this spot!"

Discord stood up. "Don't worry, I got a plan!" he said, but before he could make his plan known, a tentacle came out of nowhere and swatted him like a fly.

"Daddy!" Screwball cried out in terror as she saw her father hit the wall and fall limply to the dirt. All of a sudden, the normally cheerful pony's expression grew dark and angry. "No one hurts my father like that!"

Screwball flew up into the air and when the beast tried to grab her with one of its tentacles she clicked her hooves together and a sent a burst of electricity at it. Screwball's spiral eyes were spinning out of control and the whole room seemed to be spinning with them. No, that wasn't it. Twilight and the others were being drawn into a certain point at the center of the room.

Rocks and pillars were lifted and spun around as they were guided by some unseen force to the center that dragged in everything around it. Stones turned into bubbles, wood became chocolate milk, and the scattered bones formed into a hoard of dancing, pink tutu wearing skeletons.

"Everything turns. Everything spins! In the center and in center! Nothing escapes! Everything is destroyed!" Screwball shouted with an unsettling mixture of delight and rage drenching her voice. Below her the skeletons danced on and on like they were in some kind of morbid balle.

Twilight took whatever cover she could while Dash dragged Discord's unconscious form to safety. The only good thing that was coming from Screwball's onslaught was that the beast had been pushed into a corner.

Dash slapped Discord across the face while shouting, "Wake up already! Your kid is going to collapse the ceiling around our heads!"

The only word to describe it was chaos, but in the center there was something worse. There was something dragging all the chaos inward and promising nothing but destruction down to your very core. An insane thing was spun around and around with the single minded goal of destroying everything it could, even itself. It was like a massive and out of control spiral.

Before Screwball could finish whatever it was she was planning on doing, Discord flew up to her and grabbed her gentilly around the shoulders. "That's enough my little abomination, calm down!"

Discord's words did not go ignored. Screwball started to calm down and with her, so did the spiral. This however meant that the beast was starting to regain its composure. If it was mad before, now it was going to unleash a rage the likes of which they had never seen.

"Now Dash!" Twilight shouted.

Rainbow Dash delivered the most powerful buck she could muster to the pillar nearest to the monster and the massive hunk of stone came crashing down on top of the beast's head. Discord then snapped his fingers and the chain supporting the fiery lanter from above snapped and came falling down setting the already dazed creature ablaze.

The sudden smell of burning flesh filled the tomb and it was so foul that the others could had to hold their noses to avoid the sent. The beast screamed from the pain of being lit on fire and thrashed about, but in time its life ran out and it laid there dead, silent and still. Discord snapped his fingers and a giant fan appeared that blew out the flames. Once the machine's duty was done, he snapped his fingers again and it disappeared without a trace.

Discord landed while still clutching Screwball close to his chest. She seemed a little out of it still, but she had gotten her creepy, but cute little grin back. "I think I lost my temper," she spoke up in a distant tone.

"What was that?" Twilight asked.

Discord grinned a little and said, "That's what happens when you make a chaos bringer doesn't know how to control her temper."

Dash flew over pass the dead monster and found another stone door. "Hey, guys! I think I found where the thingies are being kept!"

Moments later...

Twilight Sparkle was lying spread eagle on the ground while five mystical runes surrounded her and held her in place with a supernatural glow. "Okay, before we do this I want to know if this is going to hurt," Twilight asked Discord as he opened a small book that's cover had been made from the flesh of demons and sat on a pedestal made of bones.

"It might," was Discord's reply. Twilight noticed he had smiled a big toothy grin when he spoke.

Rainbow Dash hovered over Discord's shoulder next to Screwball to look at the pages of the morbid book. The two floating ponies both marveled at the incredibly grotesque illustrations pointing out the ones that were exceptionally disturbing with great interest. "Hey Twi, you should see some of the stuff drawn in this book. Its down right nasty," Rainbow Dash called out.

Screwball's spiral eyes darted around the book, soaking in every unpleasant image. "Is that a three headed cat barfing up a toister?"

"The two of you should really step back some," Discord warned. "Now Twilight, remember what I told you. Despite us being ghosts our bodies are still alive. I'm going to read the incantation to send your soul back to your body and our souls will follow. Once our souls return to their original bodies, any and all wounds we suffered prior should quickly heal."

"Let's just hurry up and do this," Twilight said as she braced herself for the worst.

Discord found the page he was looking for and with an authoritative voice he began to read the magic words out loud. "Hallabaloo and howdy do. Must eat prawns and Timbucktu. Yeltsy by and hippaty poo. Kick him in the dish pan woo hoo hoo."

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. "Kick him in the dish pan woo hoo hoo?"

Twilight raised her head to look at Discord. "Is that really the incantation?"

Twilight answer quickly came when she was forced to toss her head back as a gigantic burst of magical energy flooded her entire spirit. The runes glowed violently and Twilight's eyes shined brighter than a distant star.

The magic that electrified her didn't hurt like she expected it to, it felt great. She felt as if she had the power to defy death itself and that's exactly what she was about to do. She opened her mouth and let out one powerful scream and the magic shot forth like a cannon. Twilight sent out a burst of power after that one and it rose higher and higher into the darkness of Tartarus like it was going to punch a hole right through the underworld. This magic was going to take them all home where their friends and family were waiting and the sensation made Twilight smile as her body writhed with magical energy.

The force was so intense that even Discord felt the need to step back and just when it look liked Twilight couldn't have burned brighter, she did. She gave one last thunderous shout that tore a hole in the walls of Tartarus and pathed the way for their triumphant return.

As all the power and magic erupted around her a single thought ran through Twilight Sparkle's head and it was a thought that she felt the need to vocalize. "I'm coming home Spike!"

Above ground:

It was going to be the saddest moment any of them would ever witness. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Spike all stood around Twilight. They had turned their attention away from Rainbow Dash to say their final goodbyes to one of their most dearest friends. Pinkie had given Dash a kiss on the check before hand and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you don't have to see this to."

Rarity had asked Spike one last time if he wanted to step out, but he wasn't going anywhere. They all stood together as the doctor moved closer to the machine that, at the moment was the only thing keeping Twilight alive.

The plug was just about to be pulled when all of a sudden, Twilight rose up like she had just come back from the dead; which she pretty much did. All at once her bandages, casts and the tubes that had been inserted into her went flying off as every wound on her body vanished before their very eyes.

The entire group's jaws collectively dropped at the sight of Twilight's sudden transformation back into the mare she once was. Spike was the first to talk. "Twilight, you're okay!"

Twilight's entire body started to shake violently and there was a strange rumbling sound that could be heard from her belly. "You guys might want to stand back," she said, then made a very unlady like belching noise.

Without warning, Twilight vomited up Rainbow Dash's soul, which bounce around the room like a pinball until it finally landed into its body. Once her soul had returned, Rainbow Dash rose up in a similar manner to how Twilight had with her cast and bandages flying off of her and all her wounds healing.

"That... was... awesome..." Rainbow Dash said as her wings stood up.

"Did... did Twilight just barf up RD's ghost?" AJ asked. If she had not seen it for herself, she would've never believed it.

Twilight gave another belch and vomited up Screwball's soul, but this arrival was a lot less wild compared to the last one. After being puked out, Screwball simply stood up and shouted into Twilight's wide open mouth, "Hurry up dad!" her voice had actually managed to make an echo... somehow.

The shock of Twilight's friends quickly turned to terror when the entire length of Discord crawled out of Twilight's mouth in some impossible manner. Once Discord's entire being was in the world of the living he snapped his fingers and then appeared the devastated and bloody bodies that belong to him and Screwball. The two chaotic tricksters entered their own bodies and their wounds healed. Glad to be of flesh and blood again, Screwball made a few aerial flips while Discord did a few stretches to work out some of the kinks.

"Oh boy, what a day," Discord said. "Now there's the matter of our deal, Rainbow Dash."

"Okay whatever," Dash said. "Can you get my wallet to appear for me?"

Discord snapped his fingers and Dash's navy blue wallet appeared out of thin air. Dash took out some bits and handed it to him.

Discord wrapped his arm around Screwball and said, "Time to go my little abomination. Its been fun spending some quality time with the two of you."

With those final words, Discord and Screwball teleported away leaving behind a group of flabbergasted ponies. Spike on the other had was as happy as a clam, he was so glad to see Twilight was okay that he didn't care how it happened, just as long as it did.

Spike ran up to Twilight and hugged her tighter than he had ever hugged her before while burying his face into her chest. "You're alive! You're okay!" Spike said as he started to cry tears of joy.

Twilight patted his head and softly whispered to him, "Its okay Spike, you don't need to cry. I'm not going to leave you."

Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings a few times and did a few stretches to make sure everything was working right. Once she was sure that everything was where it should be she said, "That's definitely going on my list of stuff I never want to do again."

Pinkie, AJ, Fluttershy and Rarity could only just stand there with their mouths hanging open. The doctor had ran screaming from the room the moment Twilight had started vomiting ghosts. They looked at each other, then back at their friends. After a few moments of being speechless, they apparently all at once decided to welcome Twilight and Rainbow Dash back to the world of the living with nervous smiles.

Twilight held Spike close to her while all her friends gathered around her and Dash to ask them what exactly had just happened. She took her hoof and gently wiped away his tears. He must've been so frightened for her. Spike smiled at her which made her smile back, she wanted to say something to him, but there was only one thing that came to mind. "Its good to be alive isn't it?"

At a video store in Ponyville an employee was staring up at the intimidating figure of Discord, the deity of chaos himself. The employee was about to scream and run away in a panic until Discord placed a DVD box set on the counter with money in hand. Behind Discord floated Screwball who squealed in excitement while she did a happy little dance in midair.

"C... cash or credit?" the employee asked, still fearing for his life but still wanting to keep his job.

"Cash."