Part IV
Chapter 14 – Shady Business
Doctor Shade paced around his office in Manehattan. The recent news didn’t please him in the slightest. His contacts in the College, where the destroyed portal mirror was being studied, had learned that Sundae, who he thought had perished all those years ago, had suddenly popped out from that other world. He should have never thrown her into that damn mirror, but who could have known it would be restored and and she would find her way back?
Even if she still didn’t remember a thing about her past, his secret empire was potentially compromised. Sundae had come in contact with Princess Twilight herself and the Princess was known for her sharp mind. She would learn who was behind Sundae’s little accident. It was only a matter of time before she started to suspect Shade himself.
As soon as Shade had learned the news, he had sent a pony, Stealth Blade, to kill Sundae before she started blabbing about his plans to the Princess, but the assassin had miserably failed and even worse — he had been captured. The assassin had no connection to Shade, of course, but during the last week he had come to regret his rash decision anyway.
After that failure, he had sent the orders to relocate his weapon stashes, which were hidden in his front company’s warehouses. He knew it was risky to store the weapons there, but it saved the trouble of finding an alternative. His organization had managed to avoid the attention of the authorities by bribing — or removing — the officials who were too nosy, but when the Princess might be involved, it was out of question.
The issue had been handled without a hitch everywhere else, but Manehattan was a large merchant city and his company’s warehouse here was the biggest in the company. It also stored a lot of illegal equipment that needed relocating. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to find an appropriate place in the city until the very last moment.
The bad news was that a group of Twilight’s closest friends had come to Manehattan this morning. Shade knew it wasn’t a simple coincidence. If Shade hadn’t sent an assassin, they wouldn’t have come here in the first place! At least the fools in the Celestial Security had no clue about his secret organization, as Shade’s inside source had reported so if Twilight suspected something, she hadn’t told them.
Shade had the Manehattan police chief in his pocket, so she had alerted him when Twilight’s nosy friends had asked for help. They were getting too close for his liking, so he had sent his most competent lieutenant Morning Bright to the warehouse to watch over it until morning came and the transportation of all illegal equipment could be arranged. He would make sure that everything went—
BAM
The door burst open and Morning Bright, the lieutenant in question, stepped inside. Shade looked at him incredulously for a second.
“What in Tartarus are you doing?” he bellowed at the unflinching unicorn. “You’re supposed to be guarding—”
“The warehouse has been destroyed,” Bright simply stated, cutting Shade off. He sat behind his desk with an unreadable expression and prompted his lieutenant to continue with a gesture.
“The Princesses’ friends managed to avoid the guards somehow and sneaked inside. They discovered the weapons, so I had no choice but to try and eliminate them. I failed.”
“Do you even realize what this means?” Shade furrowed his eyebrows and hit the table with a force that made the items on it bounce up. “How could you have failed?! You had five ponies with you! Weren’t you able to handle just four mares?”
Bright’s calm mask cracked for a moment and his face revealed a fury inside him, but he quickly took his emotions under control, as he always did.
“I underestimated them. When they overpowered my ponies, I escaped and razed the warehouse to the ground, so as to leave no evidence. It was better than leaving it to them.”
“I agree,” Shade nodded in disappointment. “Well, this changes our plans then. Even without the evidence, the Princess will know of our existence now. We need to accelerate the preparations before our plans are discovered.”
The Doctor sat in his chair, deep in thought, while Bright stood still, awaiting his orders. He knew better than to bother his master when he was in such a state. Finally, Shade lifted his head to look him in the eyes again.
“I’m going to Canterlot to meet with the leaders,” he said. “You will stay here and deal with the consequences of your failure.”
“As you wish, master.”
***
The next day Shade arrived in Canterlot. He had his cutie mark replaced by a drawn image of a black spider, so he wouldn’t be so easily recognized. The pony breathed the fresh mountain air with pleasure — it was his city of birth and he loved it much more than big, crowded Manehattan. Too bad there was no time to waste on sightseeing today, so he left the station in a quick canter.
He carefully monitored his surroundings as he moved through the streets, but nopony caught his trained eye. With all the recent events, however, he didn’t want to take any chances, so instead of going directly to the meeting place, he went to visit a tavern first.
The shabby stone building didn’t look very fancy. It was gloomy inside and the decorations were pretty simple. Not a lot of patrons could be found behind the tables eating and drinking. This place was known for other services than food, however, and Shade usually came here with a specific goal in mind. But not today.
The bartender flashed a false smile at Shade that fooled no one as the stallion approached.
“Mr. Spider, it’s good to see you here again!” the stallion greeted him as Shade approached. “Do you want the usual service?”
Spider was Shade’s name in the criminal underworld. He had this place under his patronage, protecting it from competitors and supplying the various potions for low prices. In return, he got a safe harbor where he and his ponies could relax for free. This place was only masquerading as a tavern, while in fact it was nothing other than a brothel.
“No, I’m just passing through today,” Shade said.
The bartender nodded in understanding.
He made Shade the gesture to follow him and led the criminal lord to the back room. The room was used as a storage, but it also had a secret tunnel, going below the whole quarter. It was known only to a number of rich and important clients, who wanted to avoid the scandal of being seen in such a questionable place. Spider knew about it too, of course.
Shade dismissed the bartender and went into the tunnel alone, illuminating his way with a torch. It was dark and wet underground, but it didn’t bother the pony in the slightest. He’d been in tunnels much more dangerous than this one while on his travels with Bright. Soon, he emerged on the surface in a small room. A lone pony had been dying from boredom there, but he jumped to his hooves at his sudden appearance. He settled back when he recognized Shade.
“Mr. Spider,” he nodded respectfully.
Shade ignored him and went outside. The only door in the room led to an abandoned alley in a poor neighborhood. It wasn’t safe for a lone traveler to be there even during the day, but Shade wasn’t afraid of any potential muggers. They would regret crossing his path if anypony was foolish enough to do so.
It wasn’t far to the meeting place from here. Shade trotted determinedly through the dirty streets as everypony cleared the way; something in his appearance made them nervous. Shade was so used to it that he almost stumbled into a group of two ponies, standing in his way in defiance. He threw them an annoyed look.
“You shouldn’t have come here, pal,” the bulky-looking mare to the left said.
“Your saddlebags look valuable,” her accomplice, a stallion pegasus, added. “Give them to me and we’ll let you go in one piece.”
Shade didn’t appear scared by their threats. Instead, he watched them in contempt, as if they were some worms under his hoof. The thugs exchanged confused looks.
“If you touch me, the Spider will make you pay,” he told them simply and the pegasus paled.
“Spider? I’m not afraid of some bug,” the mare laughed. She clearly wasn’t the bright one.
“He means the Spider, you oaf,” her accomplice whispered and the mare’s laugh changed into a heavy cough.
Shade glared at them intensely as the mare’s accomplice tugged her away, pointing at the menacing cutie mark at Shade’s flank. They both hastily disappeared from view into one of the adjacent alleys. The Spider continued on his way, pleased with himself — he certainly had quite a reputation. If his plan succeeded, he’d have even more than that.
Soon, Shade arrived at the old manor. The place had seen better days; it was owned by a lonely descendant of a bankrupt noble family. The mare who was the last member of her House was desperate to get her name and power back, so obviously she was one of the Spider’s oldest supporters. Shade had helped the pony save the manor and it was often used to hold secret meetings in relative comfort.
A couple of ponies strolled around the manor lazily, watching for anyone approaching the place. Shade walked up to them, nodding to each personally.
“Greetings, master,” both of them nodded back.
“Has anypony arrived before me?” Shade asked.
“Only Rags and Insect.”
Shade thanked the guards for the answer. Of course, those were fake names — every important pony in his organization used those, though Shade knew their real names as well. Rags and Insect were his lieutenants in Fillydelphia and Canterlot. They were aware of the true purpose of his organization, which couldn’t be said about the lower members, most of whom had no clue even about its true size.
He let the guards continue their job and entered the manor. The squeaky doors announced his arrival and the slender noblemare herself showed up to greet him. Her light pink mane and coat looked elegant and had managed to catch the eye of Fancy Pants himself. She played the role of a two-bit mare very well and had managed to extract a lot of valuable information out of him for Shade.
“Hello, Fleur,” Shade smiled to her.
“Welcome, Shade…I mean, Spider,” she quickly corrected herself after his frown.
Fleur was one of the few who knew his real identity and she had to be careful not to mention his name so carelessly. Shade’s frown quickly disappeared though, as she stroked his mane gently. The stallion smiled at the mare, who was also his lover. They didn’t spend much time together as she had to maintain her pretense romance with Fancy Pants, so Shade wouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. They would have fun together later…
But first things first.
“I need to see Insect,” Shade told his fillyfriend, coming upstairs. “Tell him to meet me in your study.”
“Why can’t you find him yourself?” Fleur answered a little annoyed. “You know I can’t stand the pony.”
“The subordinates should come to their superior, not the other way around,” he explained to her gently.
“Fine…” she sighed and turned around to go and fetch Insect.
Shade proceeded to the room and took his place behind the large and imposing desk. However, the impression was slightly ruined by the unkempt interior of the room, but he had no time to clean up. Besides, it would be even worse if he was seen doing it by one of his lieutenants, especially the ones like Insect.
Insect arrived promptly. He was a thin, feeble-looking pegasus. The cutie-mark on his gray coat had been replaced with an image of a spider just like Shade’s. Hiding one’s cutie mark wasn’t a perfect disguise, but most ponies remembered it first, so it was pretty efficient. It was the usual procedure for high-ranking members of his organization when on business — some of them had important legal positions as well and preferred to stay anonymous.
“You called me, master?” Insect asked in his screeching voice.
“I have a job for you,” Shade began and spent the next ten minutes explaining his idea.
“It will be done,” Insect nodded. “But isn’t it too risky to do right now? I thought we wanted to complete the preparations.”
“Unforeseen events are forcing me to act now. I’ll explain everything on the meeting.”
Insect nodded again and left the room without any more questions. He had full control over Canterlot’s branch and would see the job done. It was a risky part of the plan, but it was vitally important for its success.
Shade leaned back on his chair and thought about it. For more than a decade, he had been gathering information about the place called Tartarus with only one purpose in mind — break out a certain prisoner. Tartarus was basically the most secure prison in Equestria, reserved for extra-powerful criminals.
Finding out anything about Tartarus was difficult. That damn Celestia hoarded all available information in her locked archives. The very existence of the prison had been a closely guarded secret. But he had managed to collect the necessary bits of information here and there anyway to discover its location and the way to access it.
And to do it he needed to steal the key from the Princess herself.
***
It took Insect and his group two days to finish the job. Shade received the report in the same office as before.
“It’s done, master,” Insect reported.
“You haven’t brought the target here, have you?” Shade asked carefully.
“Of course not,” his lieutenant snorted at the foolishness of such action. “It’s in the safe house.”
Shade nodded in satisfaction and allowed himself a tiny smile. Everything was going according to his plan for once. Acquiring the key of Tartarus wasn’t a simple task. Only a few trusted ponies had access to it. Threatening their loved ones was a good way to make anypony do what he demanded, and Insect’s goons had just kidnapped a dear sister of such a pony.
“I shall talk with her myself. Set up a meeting and warn her not to tell anyone if she wants to see her sister alive.”
Insect left again to do as he was told.
After the negotiations, Shade planned to finally hold a council with his lieutenants. Most of them save one had already arrived, but he was sure the last one was on his way. A lot of ponies were filling the manor now and the sight of them made the Spider proud. Each of them represented a big part of the empire that he’d built in the last five years.
While waiting for the news from Insect, he had individual meetings with a few of the most important commanders to discuss their progress. The preparations were going smoothly, though he wasn’t sure how long it would last with the CSS being on his tail now. Morning Bright had sent him a disturbing message warning about their increased activity in Manehattan.
“Why are we all here?” one of his lieutenants asked in annoyance.
“Because I summoned you,” said Shade. “I will explain everything at the meeting.”
His lieutenants were getting impatient, which was bad. The bigger his organization grew, the more arrogant they became. They didn’t dare to defy him openly yet because they all understood the importance of the plan and the great reward at the end, but as soon as it was completed… Shade shook his head — he would deal with them in time.
Soon, a messenger from Insect had arrived and led the Spider to a small cafe in the outskirts of Canterlot. This place belonged to Insect himself, so it was perfect for the negotiations. He had a means to escape from there in case of a trap.
Shade immediately noticed the gray unicorn in glasses pacing in front of the entrance nervously. She wore her usual red bowtie. He had never met Raven Inkwell personally before, but he knew everything about her as he he had been planning this particular course of action for a while.
“Ms. Inkwell, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Shade said with a thin smile, approaching her.
Inkwell turned her head sharply to face Shade. Her eyes pierced him, but she did not recognize him under the disguise of the Spider. He wasn’t a public pony anyway, so it was unlikely he would be recognized even with his cutie mark for all to see.
“You’re the scum who took my sister,” she spit with contempt.
The messenger frowned, but Shade just chuckled at her badmouthing. He knew it was nothing but an attempt to hide her fear – the Spider had Inkwell in his full power. They proceeded inside the cafe and took the table in the corner, far from any random ears. The henchpony remained by the door, watching the surroundings.
“I want you to release my sister at once,” Inkwell demanded as soon as they sat down.
“I’m sure you understand I can’t do it…yet,” the Spider said. “I hope you haven’t mentioned any of this to Celestia?”
Raven Inkwell was the Princesses’ personal assistant, which was why Shade had picked her to achieve his goal. It was risky and he had wanted to do it when the preparations were fully ready, but Sundae’s unfortunate return had put a wrench in his plans, forcing him to act early.
“I haven’t…yet,” Inkwell answered. “What do you want from me? Money?”
“Oh no, not money,” Shade shook his head, amused. “It’s your unique position that interests me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Celestia has something I need and you are going to steal it for me.”
Shade explained to the unicorn what was needed of her and she was aghast at the end of his speech.
“It’s…It’s high treason,” she accused him, lowering her ears.
“And you will commit it, unless you want to get your sister back in pieces,” Shade stated coldly.
Raven nodded almost against her will, having agreed to do her part. Shade hoped that her love for her sister would outweigh her loyalty to the Princess. He didn’t like to have ponies killed unless it was absolutely necessary. He wouldn’t have to eliminate them if his ultimate plan succeeded — it wouldn’t matter anymore.
Her life was basically in Raven’s own hooves.
***
Shade had a nice dinner at the cafe before returning to the manor. The last of his lieutenants had finally arrived, so it was time to have a council. He gave a word to Fleur and she summoned everypony to the big dining room with a large table in the center. There were no snacks waiting on it — Shade wanted his subordinates to concentrate on business first.
Time for feasts would come later.
“Welcome,” Shade greeted everyone, sitting at the head of the table.
He got some random mumbling in response and a few raised forelegs. The whole table was filled with different ponies from all over the country. They never met each other personally, except for important meetings like this one, and knew each other only by their nicknames. It was beneficial for the Spider, as it prevented them from potentially uniting against his leadership. He knew that not everypony fully agreed with his vision.
“As you have probably guessed, our organization is under the threat of being discovered.”
His revelation provoked a heated discussion among his lieutenants — clearly not all of them had guessed it and now were in a state of near panic. Shade huffed in annoyance and stomped his foreleg loudly on the table to get their attention back.
“It just means that we have to act earlier than planned,” he continued as silence settled in the room. “I’ve already taken measures to acquire the key to Tartarus and all of you should prepare your forces to strike.”
“Why do we need Tartarus at all? We have enough power to overthrow Celestia without it,” one of the younger and hotheaded lieutenants said.
Some supportive noises sounded all over the table — as far as the Spider could judge, no less than a third of the ponies agreed with the wild statement. Shade took note of the lieutenant’s name for the future. It would seem he needed to look for a smarter successor to that pony.
“Don’t fool yourself, boy,” he said, staring down the young subordinate. “There are four alicorn princesses in Equestria. We can’t face them without powerful allies of our own.”
Gladly, most of his lieutenants supported his conclusion. They knew he had such an ally in Tartarus. No one except him knew who it was, however. Shade had been in contact with this powerful entity for decades and it was her who had prompted him to research Tartarus to free her from that prison. Of course, freeing the entity was only the first stage of his plan.
The second stage was taking over Equestria.
The rest of the meeting went in a constructive manner. The preparations were going better than the Spider had expected. He had enough resources now to support a small army and that was exactly what was being done. His forces had been trained and equipped in secret and soon would in the position to strike in every important city. It would be enough to take the Guard by surprise and destroy it, as it wasn’t very numerous. The long peace had made Equestria militarily weak.
“All of you should await my signal,” said the Spider in conclusion. “Soon, we will rule this country!”
Everypony roared enthusiastically in support. Their spirit had been greatly improved compared to the beginning of the meeting and Shade allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. Fleur, who was sitting close to him, patted his back; she was beaming from happiness as well.
The mare leaned to his ear and whispered, “Let’s go upstairs and celebrate in private.”
Shade eagerly agreed to her proposition; it would be good to relax after dealing with all of that criminal scum. Fleur was not like them; she was one of his oldest and true supporters. The servants filled the room, bringing food and drinks for his lieutenants, but he had already left to satisfy another kind of hunger.
***
The next few weeks were completely uneventful. All the necessary orders had already been given and all that was left to do was wait. Shade had returned to managing his official company for the time being. He was getting slightly paranoid, even though there was no evidence of the CSS getting any closer to revealing his plans, despite their efforts.
On top of that, Inkwell had been unable to steal the key yet. There was one silver lining in the fact that she had made a copy of some very important documents about Tartarus, which shed light on the dark spots in the Doctor’s knowledge. He now had proof that “Lord” Tirek had been locked there. He quickly dismissed his idea about releasing the fellow — he had proved too dangerous and uncontrollable.
Shade sat in his chair and re-read the documents again. He discovered an interesting fact — Tirek’s ability to access Tartarus without even needing the key. The beast had apparently locked the princesses in his own cage, without needing to travel all the way to the gate itself. It may prove useful to learn his secret, since they would be there anyway. As far as Shade knew, only Starswirl, the original creator of Tartarus, had such an ability. Even Celestia couldn’t do it…
What was taking Inkwell so long?! He felt like the mare needed some encouragement.
He sent a message to Insect to bring Inkwell to the safe house where her sister was held. Even the Spider himself didn’t know the house’s location, so he had to wait for a messenger to escort him. He met the pony at Insect’s cafe and they reached the house from there. It turned out to be in the poor neighborhood, just as Shade had expected.
Inkwell was already there, being escorted by two thugs and blindfolded. She didn’t look comfortable at all, shuddering slightly with her ears flat against her head. It was a good start — Insect knew his business well. If you needed to scare the life out of somepony, Insect would be your first choice.
“Take it off,” Shade ordered the thugs and they removed the blindfold.
“Why am I here again?” Inkwell asked him with a trembling voice.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been in the house. He’d had to show Inkwell that her sister was alive and well before she agreed to do anything.
“I’m displeased by your delay, Inkwell,” Shade said to her, staring right in her eyes. She visibly gulped. “I’m going to show you what will happen if you delay any longer.”
“If you do anything to my sister…” the mare began, but Shade interrupted her with a raised hoof.
“She will be fine…mostly.”
Inkwell paled at the distinct threat in Shade’s voice. He didn’t waste any more time and led her to the room where her sister was being held, and Insect was waiting for them. Two thugs followed them, watching the mare in case she tried to pull some trick.
“Hello, master,” Insect greeted him with a grin that gave even the Spider the creeps.
He was standing behind an earth pony mare, who looked very similar to Inkwell herself. Inkwell wanted to rush to her, but was stopped by the two thugs. The two sisters were almost indistinguishable save for belonging to different races. The mare was blindfolded and tied up to a chair, but visibly unharmed. Her ears swiveled to the sound of the new arrivals, but she couldn’t say anything as her mouth was gagged.
“It’s me, sis!” Inkwell yelled at her.
The bounded mare perked up and turned her head at her sister’s voice. Inkwell’s voice was filled with worry and not without a reason. When she had visited her sister the first time, she hadn’t been tied up like that and there wasn’t a creepy pegasus behind her back. The Spider didn’t enjoy what was about to happen like Insect; it was a grim necessity for him.
“Now your sister will suffer the consequences of your delay,” Shade told Inkwell.
He nodded to the eagerly awaiting Insect, who was revealed to be holding a large knife.
The pegasus began his work immediately. He bit on Inkwell’s sister’s ear to hold it in place and cut it off with one swift movement. Shade cringed slightly, while Inkwell stared in shock at the horrible picture. The poor mare struggled wildly, but the ropes were holding; Shade could hear her muffled screams. The next moment Inkwell’s horror turned into rage.
“What the buck are you doing?!” she yelled. She would have attacked Shade if not for the two thugs beside her.
“This is just a warning,” Shade said calmly. “I’m giving you exactly one week to get me the key or my friend here— ” he pointed at Insect “—won’t stop at just an ear.”
Spider truly hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He wasn’t a monster after all. Happily for her sister, Inkwell seemed to have realized the futility of resisting. She hung her head in defeat and sighed heavily. Even her mane looked sullen.
“Okay, I’ll do my best…” Inkwell said with a shaken voice. “But promise me you won’t hurt her anymore.”
“I give you my word,” Shade nodded. “Remember, one week.”
He gave a sign and his thugs led Inkwell outside, putting a blindfold on her eyes. She would be taken far away from this place and released.
“Hope she misses the deadline…” mumbled Insect under his breath, making the mare’s sobbing intensify.
Shade threw a sharp glance at him, “Make sure the mare’s alright. I need her alive.”
The pegasus was one of his most loyal and effective lieutenants, but sometimes Shade barely resisted the urge to get rid of him and replace him with a saner individual. Only the fact that there was no suitable candidate had stopped him.
***
It was the last day before the deadline when Inkwell finally reported her success. They met at the same cafe as before, which was full of clients this time of the day. Some of those clients were his own goons, guarding the meeting just in case, but Shade expected no trouble. Inkwell wouldn’t dare to risk her sister’s life.
“There is your key,” she said curtly, dropping a small item on the table.
The Doctor took the key in his hoof and examined it with curiosity. It indeed looked exactly like the key that had been described in the documents he had researched in the past, but he couldn’t tell for sure as he had no access to magic. It was one of the rare moments when he regretted not being born a unicorn. But that’s why he had recruited Morning Bright all those years ago.
“Have you replaced it with a copy as I told you?”
“Of course…” Inkwell answered, gazing at the table in shame.
“If my specialist confirms that it’s the real key, your sister will be freed,” Shade assured her.
Inkwell nodded without a word.
Of course, Shade’s promise was a blatant lie. He wasn’t going to release her for now even if the key was real because then nothing would stop Inkwell from alerting the Princess. No, her sister would remain as his hostage until his plan succeeded. Shade dismissed Inkwell for now with a warning to stay quiet.
The crime lord trembled a little from the powerful emotions — finally the key was in his possession! He was sure it was the real one; Inkwell would be too scared for her sister’s life to deceive him. After decades of his hard work, he was finally on the edge of victory! He forced himself to calm down and summoned the messenger.
“Go to Hills in Manehattan and tell him he’s needed in Canterlot as soon as possible. And warn him to remain inconspicuous; I don’t need the CSS to follow him here.”
Hills was Morning Bright’s name in the organization.
The pegasus nodded and left immediately. He would spend the next day flying to Manehattan to deliver the message in person. Shade didn’t trust letters — the consequences of them falling in the wrong hooves were disastrous. Instead, he had a special group of trusted pegasi who were ready to fly away to any corner of Equestria at his command.
After the order was given, Shade went to the familiar tavern/brothel to let off some steam — a few hours of mindless sex always put his mind at ease. Of course, Shade would have preferred to spend the time with Fleur instead, but she was with Fancy Pants at the moment…It was pointless to dwell on it for now.
The same bartender greeted Shade upon arrival with his sly smile. This time the stallion requested the usual services.
***
“It is the real key as far as I can tell,” Bright concluded after a series of thorough arcane tests.
“Excellent,” said Shade.
Both ponies were in Fleur’s mansion at this late hour. The mare herself sat on a couch with a satisfied smile on her face and sipped wine from a glass. She wholeheartedly approved of her lover’s latest success, despite a minor setback in the face of Sundae…Fleur forcibly threw the wretched mare out of her mind, not wanting to spoil such a moment.
“We will gather a party and go tomorrow,” Shade shared his plan.
“Why rush, my dear?” Fleur asked him, frowning slightly. “We’ve waited years for this, surely we can wait a few more days.”
“I would agree, but the latest report about the CSS’s activities is…concerning. They’re getting smarter and it’s only a matter of time until they reveal the full extent of our plans. My source is saying that an agent named Clipper is behind their latest breakthrough. I should get rid of him quietly…”
Fleur opened her eyes wide. She knew that their secret organization was under the threat of discovery, but she had no idea it was that bad. “What do you mean breakthrough?!”
“They arrested Chief Ironcuff of the Manehattan Police a few days ago,” Bright dropped casually. “I don’t know what their charges are yet, but I’ve already sent the right pony to solve that problem.”
“Are you going to bust her out?”
“No,” the unicorn answered flatly.
“Oh,” Fleur said. It disturbed her a little seeing that her very special somepony didn’t mind getting rid of his old allies who were no longer useful. Deep in her heart she was worried that she was just another ally of convenience for Shade and he’d dispatch her as soon as he got bored of her. Those were foolish thoughts of course.
Another pony entered the room and Fleur turned to face him, welcoming a distraction. Her face turned sour when she saw the thin, almost sickly-looking pegasus – accursed Insect. Fleur didn’t mind Bright as he was bland most of the time — even though it made her nervous at times — but Insect truly lived up to his unfortunate nickname. Being in one room with him made her skin itch, especially with the weird stares he sometimes gave her.
Insect flicked his glance to the mare in passing and stood before Shade. “The troops are ready and waiting in the camp near the town, master.”
“That’s faster than I had hoped,” said Shade. “We shall join them at once in that case.”
“I thought you wanted to leave tomorrow!” Fleur exclaimed in disappointment. She had hoped to spend the last night with her stallion before he ventured to do a daring task that no one had done before.
Fleur ignored Insect’s hard stare, looking into Shade’s dark eyes instead. They were much more gentle and kind to her and she felt more at peace immediately.
“The faster I leave, the sooner I’ll return with victory in my hooves,” he reassured her and turned to his creepy subordinate next. “You will stay in Canterlot and prepare our forces to strike at my command. Send the orders to the rest. A new age will soon begin.”
***
Doctor Shade had to dust off his old camping skills for the journey. The group consisted of a dozen ponies – not counting Shade himself and his second-in-command – and was too large to rent a room in one of the many roadside taverns without raising suspicion. All of the ponies in the party were tough-looking and some of them even had scars. About half of them were simple mercenaries from far-away lands who served for a fee, while the others were ex-bandits and such saved from their fate by the Spider’s organization, who had decided to join it.
They had to keep moving along the road, avoiding the lonely travelers and whole caravans that passed by them as they would no doubt report an army roving on the road. A few merchant guards could be seen on some caravans and Shade’s party could easily overpower them if that had been their intent. But they had a much higher goal instead.
The gate of Tartarus was actually not far from Ponyville, the village where Sundae currently resided, as well as the Princess of Friendship herself along with her friends. Shade didn’t entertain any illusions about assaulting her directly, though he was tempted to do something, being so close to the pony who had almost ruined all of his plans with her nosiness.
But he couldn’t take stupid risks now and he couldn’t spare any ponies from his little group — they were all needed for the task ahead. One of the reasons why the gate of Tartarus was considered a simple legend by most ponies was because of its hazardous location. It was placed deep within the infamous Everfree Forest, where no sane pony would dare to go.
Of course, marching straight through the Forest was exactly their plan.
It was the 3rd day of their journey on hoof when they finally arrived at its border. It would have been much faster to travel by train, but the speed wasn’t worth the risk of being discovered by lurking CSS agents. The Forest looked dark, even though it was still day out. Some of his fighters, the local ones, shuddered at the sight, but the Doctor was calm. He’d been in worse places.
Each pony had a set of enchanted armor stacked in their heavy bags. They took the time to equip it before entering the forest. Serving as a personal example, Shade crossed the border first and walked like he owned the place. Morning Bright followed him and soon the rest of the party. Everypony was silent except for a few quick phrases from time to time — the atmosphere of the Forest didn’t exactly encourage them to talk.
The Doctor often wondered if the Forest had grown around Tartarus to protect it from wanderers or if the influence of Tartarus had caused the Forest to become the cursed place it was. He liked the former theory more as there were no mentions of the Forest until much later after the Great Fight between the two royal sisters. Perhaps after their old castle had been abandoned, there wasn’t anything to counter Tartarus’s destructive influence.
“Where exactly are those ruins?” one of the party members asked Shade after a few hours in.
The leader had failed to mention the true destination was Tartarus. Apart from him, only Bright knew it. The rest were fed a story about some old ruins with powerful artifacts in them that needed retrieving and it wasn’t even that far from the truth. There was no need to test the superstition of his warriors, as most of them considered Tartarus a place of nightmares. Though considering who was held there, it was pretty much an apt description.
“We’re going to be there soon,” Shade answered, quelling their worries.
He glanced at Bright, who nodded in agreement. The exact location of the gate of Tartarus wasn’t known to the Doctor, but he knew the key was the key to finding it. The unicorn had cast a special spell on it and now the item was leading them in the direction of Tartarus itself. There was no road they could follow in the Forest, so they cut straight through the bushes.
Everypony was stunned when one of the bushes suddenly cut through them.
A horrendous creature made of sticks formed itself from the bushes and now stood before the group, growling at them madly. A vile stench from his maw hit their senses like a hammer. However, the fighters quickly recovered from the initial surprise. Timberwolves were a known and planned for danger and they were able to quickly decapitate it and cut the rest into pieces, burning the remains with Bright’s fire spell.
One of the ponies had been injured, but thanks to their enchanted armor, the claws hadn’t cut deep. He was bandaged and the group continued moving towards their destination, slightly shaken by the sudden encounter.
“Watch out, everypony,” warned Bright, “There could be more of them.”
But after that one encounter, the rest of the trip was uneventful. They heard some menacing rumbling from the nearby trees once, but no monster attacked them this time. But nopony even thought to relax in a forest like this. Soon they'd reached a patch of clear land with a small stone temple in the middle.
“This is it,” said Bright simply.
He lifted his hoof, however, ordering the others to stop. The building radiated danger, even Shade could feel it. Bright cast a detection spell and revealed a powerful defensive magic around it. Nothing good would happen if they just waltzed in there with no preparation, but it wasn’t the case here. They had the key and it should allow them to pass without triggering any of the traps.
Bright stepped behind an invisible border first, holding the glowing key high in front of him. A magical dome sprung to life around him and the others kept inside of it like their life depended on it, which was most likely the truth. Everypony was quiet and tense as they moved across the empty field to the temple.
“I’ve got an announcement for you,” Shade said when they neared the large and imposing gate. “We're going to break into Tartarus itself.”
Gasps of shock followed that revelation and even the hardened mercenaries rambled in outrage. Most of them wanted to turn back immediately.
“I’m not being paid nearly enough for this!”
“Tartarus is just a myth!”
Shade listened calmly until the fighters had mostly calmed down. He had expected such a reaction from them, of course, that’s why he had waited until they’d have no choice but to follow him.
“Go with me and you will be greatly rewarded. There is no turning back from this point.”
Despite his warning, one of the ponies in the group spit to the ground in contempt, turned around and trotted back muttering some insults to Shade’s intelligence before anypony could stop the fool. Maybe he thought Shade was lying as they had just crossed the opening safely, but he was badly mistaken if so.
As soon as he got outside of the key’s safe aura, the defense spell came to life, sparkling at him angrily. The stallion had probably realized his error by then, but instead of coming back under the safe dome while he still had the time, he galloped forward hoping to escape the spell’s area of effect.
He failed.
A bright light flashed around him, momentarily blinding the onlookers, and when they saw him again the pony had been petrified, turned to stone. Shade knew he was alive, but it would take ages for the spell to dissipate on its own, so he was useless for their mission ahead. Not even mentioning the alarms he had probably raised in Canterlot by his foolish action! Shade had been ready for some discontent after revealing their true mission, but it seemed he had underestimated the idiocy of some ponies.
“Anyone wants to try again?” He barked at the others, furrowing his eyebrows.
Nopony else volunteered.
“I thought Tartarus was bigger,” somepony suddenly said.
“It’s just a portal into it, you fool,” Shade drilled the unfortunate pony with his stare. “Prepare for the fight as soon as you come out. The other side is guarded by something more than a mere petrifying spell.”
“Y-you mean Cerberus?!”
“We stand no chance against that beast!”
“My grandma told me it has nine heads and each can gobble up a pony in one bite!”
“Enough!” Shade’s bellow made everypony shut up. “Get a hold of yourself, it’s embarrassing. Aren’t you supposed to be hardened warriors?”
“I have a spell that will put Cerberus to sleep if you distract it for long enough,” Bright mentioned casually.
That finally convinced most of the ponies that they had a chance of success. Bright opened the door with the key and they stepped into a dark chamber inside. He lit up his horn to illuminate the place as the other unicorns in the group did the same. The room was empty, save for the large stone archway on the opposite end. It was obviously the portal, though it wasn’t active at the moment, as it seemed.
The arch itself had a fancy wording written on top of it. It was in Old Ponish, but the Doctor knew it flawlessly and was able to read it. It was a good thing the rest of the party members except for Bright couldn’t do the same or another wave of panic would hit them — Beware the evil within the letters said.
“Open the gate of Tartarus,” Shade gave the order.
Bright nodded and walked up to the portal, holding the key in front of him. He had learned the right spell to activate the portal beforehoof — thanks to the information stolen by Inkwell — and cast it now. The archway hummed slightly, but nothing else seemed to change. But Shade remembered the old mirror portal, which he had used to get rid of Sundae — it worked in a similar way.
“You’re first,” he pointed at the first pony he saw.
The pony was reluctant to march into the unknown, especially if it was called Tartarus, but the others nudged her forward since it meant they wouldn’t have to go first. The unfortunate mare slowly approached the archway, regretting the life choices that had led to her being in that position. She stopped right before it, not daring to make another step.
“Go!” Shade ordered impatiently.
The mare jerked and leaped forward, closing her eyes. She passed through the seemingly stone wall and disappeared. She reappeared the next moment unharmed.
“It’s working,” announced Bright.
The others were reassured by the display and one by one followed through the portal with Shade and Bright coming in last.
A furious roar met them on the other side. Shade froze in place at the horrifying picture before him — a giant three-headed dog was fighting with his soldiers. Or perhaps fighting was a bit of a strong word, seeing as they were all galloping as far away from the beast as possible. It was one thing to know about Cerberus, but it was another to see him up close with his large teeth, clacking loudly at the place where a pony hindleg had been just a moment ago.
Bright, however, completely ignored the monster and closed his eyes. He was preparing a spell to put Cerberus to sleep, as he had promised. A harp appeared out of thin air beside him and started to play a soothing music loud enough to be heard through all the bedlam. It seemed to be affecting the monster: his pace slowed down and he yawned with all three mouths.
“Get away from it,” Shade ordered, least some fool tried to attack and messed everything up.
Everypony followed his order this time and the group slowly reassembled. Thankfully, nopony was seriously hurt from the short encounter. Cerberus yawned once again and laid down, beginning to snore peacefully, as if he hadn’t been trying to rip the ponies apart a minute ago.
Shade assessed his surroundings. They were in a gigantic cave which was illuminated by crystal blocks spread out sparsely along its floor. The walls far away were covered in deep shadows. The Doctor knew from Starswirl’s journal that Tartarus was deep underground in a natural cave. But right now, they were just at the entrance; they should move further in to find the actual prison.
“Let’s move.”
He made the others go first, while he and Bright stayed behind in case of any more dangers. The ponies were huddled close together, throwing cautious stares at every piece of rock in their way, half-expecting it to attack. The Doctor was nervous himself — it was not every day you got to break into the legendary prison — but he hid it behind a stony expression.
Soon, the cave narrowed to a corridor passageway, ending with another imposing door. Bright did his usual checking procedure and opened it with the key like the previous one. Behind it, the corridor looked pony-made, unlike the rough and uneven floors at the entrance. An old, frail unicorn walked out to greet them and froze in surprise.
“Who in Tartarus are you?” he blurted out in confusion.
The unicorn was immediately tackled to the ground and neutralized without any orders from Shade. He nodded at the initiative of his ponies in approval. They put a ring on his horn to block the unicorn’s magic, but left him untangled — the thought that some old pony would escape the hardened soldiers was laughable. He wore a heavy-looking chain over his neck with dozens and dozens of different keys.
“You’re a keeper here,” Shade stated. The pony nodded slowly in confirmation. “You will be unharmed if you cooperate.”
The meeting with the keeper wasn’t unexpected. The Doctor had read about him in journals too — the pony was much older than he looked. In fact, he knew Starswirl the Bearded himself at the time when he created Tartarus. One of the most incredible facts about Tartarus was that it preserved the life of the creatures put in here, so that no one would be able to escape the punishment by just dying of old age. No one knew how Starswirl had managed to achieve such an effect, but it was unique to this place alone. That was why Tartarus was reserved for the worst of the worst.
“What do you want to know?” the keeper asked in a tired voice.
“Show us to Tenebris.”
The keeper looked at Shade more closely, narrowing his old eyes.
“I suppose you’re not just here for a family visit?” he chuckled humorlessly.
“What?”
“You’re Nightfall Shade, right? Her direct descendant?”
The Doctor stared at the old pony in shock. How did he know?! Even Bright raised his eyebrows for a second. His warriors exchanged curious glances between each other, having heard his real name for the first time. Perhaps some of them recognized it as belonging to a businesspony from Canterlot.
“Life in here is pretty boring. Nopony to talk to but the monsters,” explained the keeper. “They ask me to check on their relatives up in the big world sometimes, but I never thought one of them would get down here to check on them.”
A light of understanding appeared on Shade’s face.
“Then I suppose I should thank you,” he said to the surprised keeper. “If it wasn’t for you, Tenebris wouldn’t have been able to contact me.”
“Well, damn,” he sighed. “Thousands of years without an accident and suddenly two breakouts in a row in just one year. Celestia is going to fire me for sure.”
Shade shrugged and made a gesture for him to get up. The old unicorn obeyed and without any further encouragement led them through the various corridors of the prison. The warriors were ready in case he was leading them into a trap, but Shade doubted it. He knew the keeper had chosen to be in this place for one simple reason — he was terrified of dying. He wouldn’t risk his life by lying to them.
They finally stopped before the door at the end of a particularly long corridor. The door was different from the others, being much older and shabbier.
“The oldest chamber of Tartarus with the very first prisoner — Tenebris,” announced the keeper, pointing at the door.
“What are you waiting for? Open it up!” Shade ordered impatiently. Years of hard work and now he’s a door away from his goal, but the damn keeper was delaying for some reason!
“I can’t reach the right key,” the keeper said with a hint of embarrassment. “Not without my magic.”
The Doctor nodded to Bright, who easily pulled the heavy keychain off his neck and hovered them before the keeper’s eyes. He pointed at the right key, somehow recognizing it among a lot of similar ones. Bright disengaged it from the chain, dropping the rest to the floor, and put the key in the keyhole.
“This is a historical moment, everypony,” Shade said to his warriors. “You’re about to see your future ruler for the first time.”
Bright turned the key and pulled the heavy door open.