Fading Suns: A New World

by David Silver


79 - Go To Hell

Gregor approached the great mare that was the ruler of that land. She was still and patient, and large. He was a healer and diplomat, charged with being a kind face and a soft touch... who would see the pony's hell. Still, it was time to stand tall, or withdraw. "Let us see," he spoke out loud.

Then came the basic, and awkward, idea of mounting Celestia. He had ridden a horse before, though she had no saddle, no bridle, and no reigns. She was a thinking and speaking horse, like a Shantor, who had little use for such things. He threw a leg over her in the position where a saddle would have been and slid up onto her as best he could. With no reigns, he reached instead for her shoulders, and got a face full of billowing mane.

Her mane appeared to be an extension of her power of the dawn itself, flowing and with sky shades in an unending dance that ignored the lack of wind to create the movement. The mane was magic, like the rest of her.

"You may sit up," she advised as she returned to full height, bringing his feet away from the ground beneath them, resting on her barrel as any other horse might provide. "I will not allow you to fall."

Not having his face pressed against ensorcelled hair seemed like a good idea and he did sit up, though he felt vulnerable and precarious despite her words. There he was, riding bareback on a thinking, cunning, magic horse that would see no legal censure from the kingdom they resided in if she happened to cause his end.

But she was also his host, and had shown little sign of meaning harm. There would be no finer time to take measure of their true intentions than this. "I am prepared." He thought soft prayers to the Pancreator and his patron saint, that they may watch over him during the trial ahead, but he would not back away.

The world suddenly changed as she took flight, launching herself from the window with little preamble. Her powerful wings caught them and they were flying, truly flying. Gravity had little say over their path out away from the very city he had approached. "Look down," she called to him. "See the city from a new angle."

And thus he did, beholding Canterlot not as a city full of smiling ponies, but as a vast construct that took hard work and engineering to solve. Even allowing for magic, the way the city rose against gravity, clearly supported by structures beneath it rather than cheating with spells, implied a great deal of effort had gone into placing the city there. The water that spilled freely from one side spoke of irrigation techniques and pre-planning.

The ponies were capable of more than simple happiness, or so he felt Celestia was trying to impress. It was a pity he was also still high in the sky at the mercy of a horse he had only passing knowledge in how to ride. He did not view the city for long, making judgments quickly before returning his view forward. "A fine city."

"One paid for with blood and broken bones," she spoke a little morosely. "I do not think often of it, but those brave first builders made the ultimate sacrifice at my behest those untold years ago." She directed an ear at him. "I presume you are not unfamiliar with the difficulties of such constructions?"

"Not intimately," he confessed. "But I have heard stories." Grand or modest, once a building effort was beyond a given size, injuries and deaths seemed to become inevitable. "Tell me..." He tried to calm himself despite being only supported by Celestia's form so high and fast in the air. "Tell me, why? You surely knew the cost, but what was the goal?"

"At the time, safety." She looked over her shoulder a moment. "But as it grew, it became something grander, a symbol, as these things sometimes do. It is a place visible from much of my kingdom, where they know I reside. It has become a sure sign they can look to, to know I am not quite that far away. It brings comfort now, and solidarity."

An entire city that had become a reflection point, where any could look up and bask in the warmth of the light. It was... poetic, and humbling. Even divine worlds were not often known to go to such lengths to put a point of inspiration in such clear view. Many, he ruminated, would hide them away, to protect them, but was such protection also sheltering the light away from those most in need of it?

He banished such thoughts. "What should I expect, when we get there?"

"We are drawing close." She swooped down, her legs reaching for the ground that approached them. "This is where we secure dark things that have proven troublesome to the world at large. This we do not tell others of. This is not a place my ponies go or view casually." She landed lightly, taking a few steps with her momentum before coming to a gentle stop.

The great doors of Tartarus stood before them, imposing and cold. Cool blacks and reds covered it, with an ornate fixture at its center, its purpose unknown to him. "It's not as large as I imagined," he confessed. It was large enough for three Celestia's to stride in side by side, by his guessing, though was tall enough to fit his idea of how large they should be.

"Why would we make the portal to this larger than it need be?" Her magic wrapped around him, gently setting him down on his feet beside herself. "We are done flying for now, and I imagine you would rather walk."

"Thank you," he dipped his head, even if the feeling of magic was a strange and unasked for one. Her magic was warm, as befit a ruler who claimed dominion over their sun, their source of light. "How do we proceed, if we are to proceed?"

She raised a hoof to the dark blue fixture in the center of the door. "There is a key, but there are also ways." Her horn glowed brightly, that glow seeming to transfer down to her hooves. The door opened suddenly but slowly, swinging an inch at a time to allow them past. "The key is for those who would come but once."

The sound of claws on stone reached them, a large thing was approaching them, equally loud panting filling the air. Gregor took a step back, muttering a soft prayer of protection.

"Fear not. This is a guardian. And a good boy at that." As if by cue, Cerberus lumbered into view, a massive three headed dog, all three heads fixed on Celestia with happy smiles and lolling tongues. They knew her. "Good afternoon, Cerberus. Is everything going well?"

The dog woofed, but not all at the same instant, a discordant gap of moments between them. "Good good. I'm coming in with Father Gregor here. He is a good pony, even if he doesn't look it, so be nice."

Cerberus approached all the closer, moving for Gregor without further delay. Those great unnatural dog heads came down at him, their teeth displayed, but he was not torn asunder. They began to all sniff at him curiously, and then the licking began. He was being assaulted in the manner of an eager housepet shown a new person.

He could but laugh at the absurdity of the moment. He was being slobbered on by... uh... "What manner of creature is this?" He tried to push the heads away and they obliged, thankfully, allowing him respite.

"He is a unique thing." Celestia strode past him without fear. "We should move forward. The door will close. Now... your hell is a hot place, with fire and seducing demons, is it not?"

"That is... a fair summary." There was surely more nuance than that, but as basic hot takes went... "And yours?" He scurried to catch up with her, still in something of disbelief that he was literally entering their hell, even if he had just passed... whatever Cerberus was. Which reminded. "Does your guardian have a name?"

"Did I not mention it? Cerberus." Her calling of his name, even in conversation, caused the great beast to approach her, following as she walked. The door began to close behind them with the heavy sound of stone against stone. "This is Tartarus, a place of coldness and stillness.

A low hiss from the side drew his attention. There were cages stacked tall with all manner of beasts. The one hissing had a curious body that was a mix of a rooster and a dragon. He averted his gaze almost immediately, realizing what he had seen. "Pancreator preserve!"

"Ah, you recognize a cockatrice?" Celestia strode past it as if it wasn't there. "This particular one made its way into Canterlot and caused no end of trouble. This is its punishment. There are others, and we deal with them. Ours is not a safe world."

Another cage along the way emitted a deep bellowing roar, shaking back and forth. "And this is a bug bear."

It was no bugbear that Gregor would have known. It was literally a bear and a bee made one. "I... see..."

"Fierce and deadly, it takes quite some effort, and all too often blood, to subdue it. It is kept here, as no other place suffices for something like it." Still she walked on, ignoring it from that point. "But these are beasts and monsters. I did not come here to show you them specifically."

Gregor kept close to Celestia. Even Cerberus, as strange as he(?) was seemed safer than the beasts that wanted to escape their cages. "What is it then that you have brought me here to see? I would have thought a glimpse of your predators that you have shown mastery over would have sufficed."

"Perhaps, but even a wolf can claim dominion over its territory over other fierce predators. These only show that we are clever animals. You needst see something... else." They were striding along a narrow walkway, to either side it went down beyond sight. It was cold and still, as she had promised. "He awaits us at the end of this path."

"Come to taunt me?" asked a voice in the same direction. "And you've brought company? Another prisoner, perhaps?"

Gregor felt a chill run down his spine. That voice spoke of a manipulator. In such a dark and loathsome place, was he to meet their figure of Satan? "I am no prisoner, though I suppose you are."

"He supposes I am," bitterly laughed Tirek as he came into view, in a cage larger than the others. A centaur, with the full body of a horse and the torso of some humanoid thing, but not human. "What manner of creature are you?" he asked, peering at Gregor.

"A guest," replied Celestia without pause. "Father Gregor, this is Tirek. He is as close to what you would call a demon as we have available to display."

"Father?" Tirek reached for the bars of his cell. "Is that a rank? I knew one that preferred that name... How can I help you today, Father?"

That voice was like tainted oil against his skin. He could feel the darkness of the demon before him. The wrong word could lead to corruption. "You cannot help me. I have all that I require," he stated with steely confidence. He would be taken in by no demonic promises. "Tell me, what crimes has this one committed, aside from what he is."

Celestia gestured with a wing. "His people are not all fallen as he is, do not think ill of them all for his crimes. But this one, he is a creature most vexing. He can draw magic from us, even those of us you would think are free of magic. With their vitality stolen, he grows stronger and larger, becoming drunk on the essence he gorges on, growing ever more hungry."

A classic demonic vice, to lust for power unending, and to become all the more difficult to put down as a result. Gregor felt his hands clenching without thinking about it. A demon. He was facing a true demon.

"Now now, don't look at me that way. I am just a defenseless creature," he argued, gesturing over his frail form. "I couldn't hurt a fly."