With the young filly, Ferry Merry as their guide, the six living ponies ran down the long hallway. Green torches waved as they passed. As they reached the end of the hallway, sparkling lights reflected in their eyes.
They found themselves stopping to stare at the sight in front. Docks were built into the shore of a massive river. Sparkling little lights hung from strings all over the buildings, posts and boardwalks. Colorful tarps gave the area a hint of whimsy. Off in an even more colorful part of the docks was a used ship emporium. Much of the wood was warped or cracked. Barnacles had made much of the lower docks their home. The wood underneath weren’t even visible in some places.
Several ships, capable of holding hundreds of ponies, were docked currently. They all looked decrepit, on the verge of breaking down. Masts were cracked, torn sails lain on the deck and holes were in the hull. Somehow they kept afloat, even the one that was only half a ship.
The river was so wide, multiple ships could fit at the same time, end to end. A narrow walkway was on the other side. Bright circles, from the many lights, danced on the surface of the rushing water. A constant rumbling sound filled the area.
Several cloaked under ponies were around the docks. They carried crates, mopped the boardwalks and performed several other maintenance tasks. None of them gave a second glance to Twilight and the others.
“This is the River of Pain,” Ferry said. “It’s safe though, as long as you don’t fall into the water. The flute serpents will rip the flesh right off you.”
“F-f-f-flute serpents?” Fluttershy said. She let out a yelp when she saw suspicious movement in the water. It might have just been the normal waves.
“Aww, I’ll keep you safe. There’s my ship.” Ferry pointed down the docks. It wasn’t any of the large sea vessels. Her boat looked like nothing more than a row boat, moored with a rusty chain.
“This,” Rarity considered her words but came up with nothing better than, “thing? It looks like it’s about to sink any moment.”
The boat looked as if only four ponies could fit on the two benches nailed inside. Maybe more could stand at either end. That didn’t solve all of the bent wood and missing figurehead. At least there were no holes but some places looked to be struggling against the nails holding things together.
“Naw. Don’t worry about it, Rarity. I know what I’m doing.”
“What are you doing, Ferry Merry?” a harsh voice asked.
Every pony worker around the docks suddenly froze.
Appearing out of a dark spot on the docks was a pale blue pony. Her icy eyes glared at the living beings inside Lot D. Her mane had lopsided bangs, with the right falling all the way to hock length while the left ended just past the face. Or was it the other way around? The longer seemed to change depending on the angle. One side of her tail was also cut shorter than the other. Her mane and tail revealed the pattern of dark, stormy seas. Stones arranged in a doorway shape was pictured on her flank.
“Sis!” Ferry said.
She hurried over with a joyous expression. The smile slowly faded as her sister continued to stare darkly at her new friends.
“Sis?”
The pale blue pony used a hoof to push the filly behind her. She took a few steps forward. Even light movements caused the docks to creak and complain. “Uninvited guests, I am Arch Rune, guardian of the River of Pain. You are not dead souls. Leave this place.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said. She had already turned to leave but bumped into Twilight.
The unicorn had her own glower for the guardian. “We’re not going back.
“Look here, see, Lot D is only for ponies or others that have died. We can’t make an exception for every Apple, Fire and Flower that wants to enter. If you firlies want, you can visit Subterrania. It’s much nicer over there.”
“No. We are going deeper into Lot D. We need to speak with your princess.” Twilight didn’t back down from the under pony at all. “Our dear friend Spike has been brought here by mistake. We’re here to get him back.”
“Mistake eh? If I had a bit for every time I heard that, I’d have two bits. Because not many living ponies are crazy enough to come here. See?”
“It’s true!” Twilight shouted.
“Even if it is, firly, I don’t handle these things. See?” Arch Rune leapt off the pier and landed in front of the six with a mighty thud. “And you’re not going to get to see the ones who do. Now if you firlies don’t want to get bumped off, I suggest you leave.”
A nudging at her feet caused her to look back. Her younger sister was there, staring up with wide, shimmering eyes. “C’mon sis. Let them through. They love this Spike fellow very much. And the dame with hair that could strangle a stallion in his sleep helped me out earlier.”
Fluttershy realized that she was being talked about. Though the guardian of the river was scary, she stepped forward anyway, one shaky step at a time. “I wouldn’t strangle anyone. If you would please let us pass, we would be ever so grateful.”
“No way, firly,” Arch Rune said, though her voice was no longer as forceful as before.
Ferry zipped over to Fluttershy. Pulling her head down by the hair, she whispered something.
“Alright, on three,” Ferry Merry said. “One, two, three!”
Fluttershy and Ferry gave the most pleading, despondent look they could with large eyes quivering from tears. Arch Rune took a few steps back. She looked away but found her eyes drawn back to the pleading ponies. The strange pink one was also there, doing some fancy twirling with her eyes and showing a crescent moon smile. That was just creepy.
Sensing the situation, Applejack dragged Pinkie away even as the pink pony’s eyes tried to stretch back out. Rainbow Dash smacked them back into their sockets.
“Pleeeease, big sis?” Ferry Merry drawled.
“Please, big- er, Arch Rune?” Fluttershy said in her soft, calming tone.
“Hnnnnngh.” Arch Rune recoiled back like getting punched in the heart. She righted herself and started pacing back and forth. The longer half of her tail swung in the wake. The princess had said to use their own judgment on what to do. “Alright, firlies, this is what I’m going to do. Each of you pays the fare for a boat ride, and I’ll let you go. See?”
“Fare?” Twilight gasped. Bits were one of the things she thought they wouldn’t need in Lot D. “Anyone have any bits?”
“Well, I did have some in my luggage,” Rarity said, annoyed, “but somepony made me leave it at home.” She turned up her nose.
“No, no,” Arch Rune interrupted. “We don’t use bits here. See? We use gold coins. Loans are provided, with vig of course, if you don’t have any coins.”
“Don’t do it,” Ferry Merry said to the group. “The vig will leave you out in the cold, lonely streets as snow falls on your mane. You’ll shiver with nothing more than a newspaper fire to keep you warm.”
“Hey, the fare is my best offer. Take it or leave it, firlies.”
“How about,” Fluttershy spoke up with a hoof held high, “we work instead? And you can pay us, and we’ll use that to pay for our boat fare?”
“We don’t have that kind of time, Fluttershy,” Twilight said.
“And physical labor, how boorish,” Rarity added.
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and ascended into the air. “How about we just knock you down? That way we don’t need to do any of this stupid stuff.”
She hurtled forward, leaving a trail of rainbows behind.
“Wait!” Ferry Merry said.
The sky blue pegasus had no intentions of stopping. Arch Rune lazily looked up with a dull expression. Moments before impact, the guardian melted into a shadow on the ground. Images of a stormy sea shown through the black outline.
Rainbow Dash didn’t fall through to some strange parallel dimension though, she simply bounced off the hard ground underneath the shadow. Tumbling through the air, she arced towards the water.
“Rainbow!” her friends shouted.
With great skill, Rainbow Dash righted herself, but the very tip of her wings still swept towards the water. Everypony held their breath as they saw the primary feathers, that was the longest ones at the very end of the wing, dip into the water. It was hardly in before being pulled out. A few, glistening drops of water trailed along, creating ripples as they landed back in the river.
Then the water burst out into the air. White fangs gleamed, smashing through water on their upward path. A segmented pearly body followed.
“Ahhhh!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she dashed for the opposite wall. She pressed up against it tightly. Her chest heaved from heavy breathing.
A flute serpent, skeletal creatures over a hundred hoofs long, arced through the air. Its blank eye sockets still held a chilling gaze. Dagger like teeth lined its bony jaws. Air and water flowed through empty holes in its body, creating a strangely gargled but pleasant sound.
With its prey on land though, the flute serpent merely landed back in the river with a gigantic splash.
“Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” Ferry Merry called out.
There was a light gash on her hind leg. Nothing serious, but it was going to sting for a while.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash croaked.
She wriggled off the wall. There was an imprint of her body left in the stone.
Arch Rune laughed. “You’re pretty good. But what’s the rush, firlies? There’s no arbitrary time limit. See?”
“I, I suppose not,” Twilight admitted. “Will you allow us to work then?”
“Sure thing.” Arch Rune looked around for things the six could possibly do. Her eyes narrowed into a leer as she swept through the area. “Oy, all you coltos, get back to work. You’re not being paid to stand around! You all want to be worked over?”
All of the entranced dock workers suddenly sprang to life. There had been a lack of creaking wood as the ponies talked, but now the area was rife with activity again.
Arch Rune placed a hoof against her shaking head. “Anyway, you six move the cargo off that ship to the warehouse.” She pointed from an old galleon to a windowless building. “At our pay rates, that should get you enough for the fare. See?”
“We see,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes.
Before starting, Fluttershy cleaned and bandaged Rainbow Dash’s leg first.
As the six went to work, they interacted a bit with the other dock workers. They were mostly nice under ponies that said, “Hi,” or, “How are you doing?” A few were grumpy but those ponies existed everywhere.
The under ponies was still strange to the six Equestria ponies. Pinkie spent a good while just picking up and shifting around an under pony while looking into his unmoving mane pattern. All of the under ponies seemed to have the ability to turn into shadow to travel along surfaces. A few of them had their legs as shadow, stuck to the underside of the docks, and they were chipping off barnacles.
“Let’s go Pinkie,” Applejack said. “The faster we finish moving the cargo, the sooner we can see Spike.”
“Okay.”
There was quite a stack of crates on the hold of the ship. Everything was nailed tightly shut, and the outside was unmarked, so they couldn’t tell what was inside. Dollies had been provided for their use. Twilight did the organizing with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie doing the moving. Rarity helped out with moving the crates with her telekinesis.
Fluttershy had been brought away by Arch Rune. Ferry Merry was also there, next to Fluttershy. They were inside a simple office that overlooked the docks.
“Fluttershy, right?” Arch Rune asked.
“Yes,” the yellow pegasus said in a transient whisper.
“Ferry Merry told me that you saved her from some scorpions. I never thanked you for that, so thanks.”
Looking happier but still not directly at the other pony’s eyes, Fluttershy said, “You’re welcome.”
“My little sis is always getting into trouble with the local animals.” Arch Rune shook her head.
“Hey!” Ferry Merry glowered at her older sister. “I could have handled them.”
Arch Rune snorted as she messed with the filly’s hair. “You can’t even fully ground travel yet.” The guardian turned back to their guest. “I’m surprised your way with animals works on our Subterranian species too.”
“I didn’t know if it would actually.”
“And you jumped in anyway?” Arch Rune had an impressed smile.
Fluttershy shifted around. Finding no one position better than the other, she stopped with front hooves crossed. “I couldn’t let them hurt a young filly. If they were animals, I knew I could at least try.”
“Very nice of you.” The guardian held out her hoof.
“Eep,” Fluttershy gasped as she gently tapped it with her own.
“I should-”
A torrent of commotion from the outside cut into their conversation. Everypony was scrambling away from a crab, large as a carriage. Hundreds of spikes covered its blood red shell. One claw was more massive than the other, but both claws were lined with pony crushing ridges along the inside edge. It scuttled sideways on eight long legs. Each step threatened to break through the already groaning boardwalk.
Arch Rune turned into shadow and slid out of the office.
“What is that?” Fluttershy asked.
“That’s a giant enemy crab, though that’s only a small sized version,” Ferry explained. “Their shells repel even the harshest assaults, but they got a soft spot for hot lead.”
“You’re planning on hurting it?”
“What else can we do, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy stretched out her wings as she leapt onto the windowsill. With a push off her hind legs, the pegasus flew out into the huge caverns. Arch Rune was standing firm, keeping the spiked crab from getting further into the docks. Fluttershy landed next to the guardian.
Ferry quickly shuffled out of the office to catch the action up close.
In a tone not befitting her previous bravado, Fluttershy said, “Um, would it at all be alright for me to try talking to him? If it’s not going to be an inconvenience for you of course.”
“This guy has been really persistent in coming. See?” Arch Rune dropped her puffed up stance and stepped to the side. “But alright, give it a shot.”
The other five equestrian ponies ran over when they saw their friend facing the giant crab alone. They all stayed back though, giving her room to work.”
Fluttershy had to walk around to the side, so she would be face to face with the crab. “Hello,” she said politely, if quietly. “What seems to be the problem? Why do you keep coming back here?”
The crab was doing something. What? No one else seemed to know, but Fluttershy nodded.
“Wait right here okay? I’ll be right back.”
The mild pegasus flew off. She swooped down, underneath the docks.
Rainbow Dash chomped on her hooves nervously.
There wasn’t a great big splash of a flute serpent or any other disastrous event. Fluttershy came out from under the docks with an old doll in the form of a pony in hoof. It seemed to be held together by silver thread. She dropped it in front of the crab.
Being very gentle, the grab picked it up without doing any damage to the doll. Maybe it was smiling? Fluttershy certainly was as the crab shuffled off.
“Whaaaaat?” Arch Rune said in a low tone.
“The doll belonged to him. He accidentally dropped it a while back, and the currents carried the doll until it got stuck here. He only wanted it back.”
“I repeat. Whaaaaat?”
“See, I told you Fluttershy is great,” Ferry said. “And look on the bright side, the small giant enemy crab won’t come back to bother us again.”
“I suppose not,” Arch Rune said, still uncertain about what just happened.
“This kind of service deserves a reward, don’t you think, sis?”
The guardian of the river chuckled. “Alright. For Fluttershy’s skill in handling the giant enemy crab, you Equestrian firlies will be rewarded twelve gold coins. That just happens to be enough to pay for the fares of six ponies.”
“Yes!” the six cheered.
“Thank you so much,” Fluttershy said.
“Hold up.”
Arch Rune slithered across the ground in a shadow, going somewhere off the normal path. When she returned, there was a bag in her mouth. She placed the bag on the ground, revealing the inside to be full of gold coins. Their bright sparkle lit up the area.
“Here you go.” With her teeth, she pulled out the coins in pairs and tossed it to each of the equestrian ponies.
“And here you go.” They all returned the coins as payment for the ferry.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash added with a playful elbow to the guardians chest, “we finished moving the crates too. Don’t worry, no extra charge.” She flitted away with a smirk.
Everypony took their place on board Ferry’s small rowboat. Ferry stood where the figure head should have been, but it wasn’t since it broke off. The area had been smoothed over to make it a comfortable platform. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie took the benches. That left Twilight to stand in the stern. Rainbow Dash just followed in the air.
They were past the checkpoint in the River of Pain. According to Ferry Merry, their next stop was the River of Fire.