Apple Bloom stepped off of the ferry-boat onto the grey, rocky shore. A nearby lamp post cast an eerie light upon the area as the blue flame flickered. She looked around, examining the area.
The rock-laden ground was sparsely dotted with large boulders and stone spires. There was an uncomfortable niggling feeling in her mind questioning why she could see so far when the only source of light was the single lamp post nearby. Somehow, despite being able to see quite a fair distance, there was nothing but pitch black above.
“Miss Cheerilee, why are we underground?” Apple Bloom asked as she turned to her teacher.
The plum colored mare was shuffling the rest of her class off of the ferry-boat when Apple Bloom raised her question. She put on her signature smile, “Well, Apple Bloom, this is where we are supposed to be.” As the last of her students exited the small wooden craft, she hopped out onto the shore. “I admit, I had to ask Twilight for directions, but I can assure you that I’ve followed them precisely.” Cheerilee’s mind wandered back to that moment. She was still confused as to why Twilight had given her such a strange look when she asked for directions to this place. After all, this is where the school board authorized her to take a field trip, so it had to be safe.
“Alright, everypony, say thank you to the nice ferrypony.” Cheerilee waved at the oddly quiet earth pony stallion in a grey robe. He looked back and flashed a cold smile as the fillies and colts erupted in a chorus of “Thank you,” accompanied by waving forelimbs. The stallion’s eyes lit up with faint bluish-grey glow, not too dissimilar from the nearby lamp, before he took his oar and shoved off from the shore.
It didn’t take long for the group to reach their destination, a massive set of metal cages filled with unusual creatures.
As they approached, they were greeted by a white pegasus with a grey mane. He wore a bluish-grey barding made of a mix of cloth and metal. From his left hip hung a small sword, and from his right, hung a wrapped chain. “Greetings!” he exclaimed. “Not many visitors these days. What brings you here?”
Cheerilee stepped forward. “Class field trip. We’re here to see your animals.”
The pegasus smirked. “Oh, of course. It has been too long since I’ve been able to tell ponies of the things we keep here.” The teacher cast him a confused look before he turned and walked over to a very large cage. The stallion motioned for the group to come closer.
“This, children, is a chimera! A fearsome beast with the body of a lion, a goat’s head on its back and a snake for a tail!” The pegasus shouted happily. “Caught it myself, I’ll have you know.”
“It’s ugly.” Diamond Tiara replied immediately. Silver Spoon took the chance to laugh.
“She’s right.” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “I think Rarity would actually find that more disgusting than a pig.”
After a moment of staring in awe, Snips and Snails dashed towards the cage to get a closer look. “Hey, this thing looks crazy!” Snips exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’s even cooler than that ursa thing that chased us around.” Snails added.
Cheerilee was starting to feel concerned. Not only was there a massive beast that looked quite capable of swallowing an adult pony whole cautiously eyeing her students as they milled around its cage, but she noticed that the cage door was only being held shut by a small length of golden rope.
She walked over to the pegasus stallion as he beamed an enthusiastic smile; it was as if he was enjoying the class’ excitement. “Excuse me, mister...”
He swiftly turned his head. “Just call me ‘Wings’.”
“Wings? Your parents must not be very creative.” Scootaloo interjected.
Cheerilee immediately switched to her chastising tone.“Scootaloo! That was very rude, young lady. Apologize to him this instant!”
Cheerilee was caught off guard when the stallion suddenly burst into laughter. “Don’t worry about it, ladies. Wings is just a nickname I happen to like. We don’t have too many pegasi down here, you know. Since I was the first one here, the others just tried to tease me. Granted, they weren’t exactly creative–”
“Hey, mister.” Scootaloo poked the strange pegasus in his shoulder, completely ignoring his story. “What is this chain for? Did you use it to capture that thing?”
The stallion seemed to puff up his chest as his ego swelled. “Yes, young one. That’s correct. In fact, I’ve personally subdued every creature here!”
The orange filly’s eyes grew wide with amazement. “That’s so cool! I bet you’re almost as awesome as Rainbow Dash!”
“Hey! My sister fought off a manticore once. Do you have any of them here?” Apple Bloom asked as she and Sweetie Belle seemed to mysteriously appear next to Scootaloo.
“Yeah, well Rarity helped her with that fight!” Sweetie remarked.
“Rainbow Dash was there too!”
“So what? Fluttershy’s the one who tamed it.” Apple Bloom retorted.
The stallion raised a single brow, his curiosity piqued. “Excuse me, did you say somepony tamed a manticore?”
The three fillies promptly ceased their arguing.
“Oh, yeah, Fluttershy’s amazing!”
“She totally tamed it.”
“Don’t forget that time when she scolded that dragon until he started crying!”
“Or how she stared down the cock-a-thingy and made it turn her chickens back from being stone!”
The stallion found himself gaping slightly at Fluttershy’s list of accomplishments. “It sounds as if you three have an amazing guardian.” The fillies nodded happily. “I’d love to meet such a powerful mare someday.”
“Yeah, Fluttershy’s great, but she’s still not as cool as Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo added to nopony’s surprise.
“Wings.” Cheerilee spoke up, earning the stallion’s attention. “Are you sure these creatures are safe to be around?” – her face sagged with worry – “I don’t want any my students to get hurt petting them.”
“Not to worry, fair lady. So long as they remain in their cages, they are completely docile. The enchanted rope that binds the cage doors ensures that any occupant is incapable of aggression, so long as the rope is tied to the cage.” he answered with astounding confidence. “But, pray tell, why would they want to pet a chimera?”
“Hey, Snips, just cut that rope off so we can go in and pet it!” Suddenly, Wings’ confident expression shattered.
The rope fell to the ground, sliced in two by a pair of floating scissors. The beast loosed a mighty roar, the sheer force of which flung the two colts dozens of feet away. As Snips and Snails landed with a thud, the cage door burst open as the giant monster escaped from its prison.
“Hey, Wings! Use your chain!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Yeah! Show us how you kicked thing’s butt!” Apple Bloom added with equal enthusiasm.
“Hey, I know! I’ll get your chain for you. I’ve been practicing my telekinesis so I can be a bigger help to Rarity.” Sweetie shouted as her horn lit up.
“Wait, practicing?” Wings’ eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. A blue glow surrounded his chain before he could object.
Suddenly, the chain went berserk. The length of the chain tripled as it weaved around in the air. Then, as quickly as it had begun moving, the chain promptly contracted around the pegasus stallion, leaving his totally bound. He fell to the ground, utterly helpless.
“Sweetie! What the hay did you do?” Scootaloo shouted, the beginnings fear echoed in her voice.
Sweetie Belle looked on in shock. In all the times she’d practiced, her spell had never backfired this badly. Except that time when she accidentally tied up Rarity with bolt of cloth she’d been trying to lift. “Oh, right... I forgot I did that.” The white filly slumped in shame.
“My chain is enchanted.” Wings spoke up. “It reacts poorly with unfocused magic.“
“Oh...” It was all Sweetie could manage to say.
“Quick, let’s let out something else and hope they fight each other!” Snips shouted.
“No! You fool, don’t free them!” Wings shouted angrily.
Unfortunately, the first part of his sentence had been drowned out by another mighty roar from the chimera. The only thing the bumbling unicorn colt heard was: “...free them!”
With newfound resolve Snips levitated his scissors with him as he ran from cage to cage cutting one golden rope after another.
The captives, now free, looked around the area with unease. Many powerful creatures were present, and not all of them liked each other. The final moment of peace was broken when one of the strange beasts charged.
Chaos ensued.
The three fillies crowded around Wings, desperately trying to undo the chains that bound him. The chimera found this an opportunity worth exploiting. It lunged forward, swiping a powerful claw at the group. Before its blow could land, Cheerilee shouted at the fillies to run. Even if she wanted to, there was no way she could stop the massive beast’s attack.
To her horror, they didn’t move in time.
The three fillies went tumbling across the ground, the sharp rocks digging in with every bounce.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shrieked in terror as the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to a stop right at their hooves. Cheerilee looked on in horror, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Ow, that hurt.” Sweetie Belle moaned as she pulled herself off the ground.
“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve crashed into trees that hurt more than this.” Scootaloo replied as she sat up.
“Yeah! I bet my brother can buck harder than this thing hits!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she dusted off her bow.
Miraculously, there was not a single injury to be found on them.
“Wha-what!?” Diamond Tiara shouted. “But, how are you still alive?”
Scootaloo turned and flashed an arrogant grin. “Well, not to brag or anything-”
“Enough!” A loud voice boomed.
The fighting creatures stopped dead in their tracks.
Suddenly, a gout of reddish flame erupted in the middle of the battle site. Out of the flame appeared a unicorn garbed in a black robe that covered most of his body save for his head and forelegs. The robe ended in an obscuring black mist – covering his back hooves – that seemed to flow into wispy black tendrils before dissipating into the air. His coat was an ashen grey, nearly black, while his eyes glowed a sickly yellow. His mane, however, was the most astonishing feature; it was a blue flame, much like that of the lamp they had seen earlier.
The stallion looked around at all of the dangerous creatures with an air of superiority. With a bellowing shout, the flames of his mane flashed red as more reddish gouts of flame erupted from his body turning him into a living pyre. As the flames swirled around him, he shouted a command, “Back in your cages!”
The assembled creatures retreated to their respective cages faster than a pony could blink; making sure to close the doors behind them.
The red subsided into blue and the flames retreated into the stallion’s mane. He walked towards Wings with a sense of purpose and a subtle anger in his eyes. He came to a stop near the bound pegasus.
The flame covered stallion let out an odd mix of a groan and a sigh as he shook his head at the sight before him. “Alright, Thanatos, who tricked you this time?” His voice was strangely calm.
“Um, the w-white unicorn filly over there tried to grab my chain with her magic...” The pegasus replied with an embarrassed expression.
The flames of his mane flashed red once more, though no more flames erupted this time. The stallion leaned down into Wings’ face before shouting, “You got taken out by a filly!?” Red faded to blue once more as the stallion’s anger was washed away in a sudden fit of laughter.
Cheerilee was thoroughly confused. Despite that, she knew it was her responsibility as her student’s chaperone to get some answers. There was no way the school board should have approved a field trip to such a dangerous place.
The plum colored mare stepped forward. “Excuse me, sir. Are you the owner of this place?”
The laughing unicorn swiftly calmed himself. He grinned slyly. “Yes I am, darling.” – he stepped closer – “Hades, Lord of the Dead. Nice to meet ya.” He extended a hoof as though expecting her to shake it.
Cheerilee stood stock still as she tried to process what she had just heard. “If you’re Hades, then who is that guy?”
Hades lowered his hoof as he cast a displeased glance at the bound pegasus. “Thanatos, living incarnation of death, and massive screw up.” He returned his gaze to the plum mare. “And before you ask, when he’s bound by his own chain it literally means that nothing can die.”
“But-”
“Not the first time it’s happened either. Seriously, the guy is total moron. Last time it happened the pony he was supposed to be binding tricked Thanny into handing over his chain. I mean, how stupid can you get, am I right.” Hades nudged Cheerilee with his elbow.
“Yes, that sounds very foolish...” Cheerilee paused to regather her train of thought. “So I’m guessing this isn’t a petting zoo.”
Hades burst into laughter once more. “Oh, god, tell me you’re being serious. I really need something to laugh at today.”
The teacher shrunk back as the embarassment set in. “I wouldn’t be asking otherwise.” She mumbled in response.
After a long, awkward time of watching the Lord of the Dead literally rolling around in a fit of laughter, the stallion swiftly righted himself; his appearance back to a stoic expression of neutrality. “Yeah, honey, this is T-a-r-t-a-r-u-s. You know, hell, the underworld, land of the dead, etc. What you want is T-a-u-r-u-s, the petting zoo run by some loud-mouth Minotaurs. It’s about an hour south from the entrance.”
Princess Celestia looked up as a scroll materialized in her chambers. She instinctively grabbed it with her magic.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I would like to formally lodge a complaint against the Equestrian School Board for authorizing a class field trip to Tartarus. Somepony needs to teach those old fools how to spell.
Respectfully,
Hades
Dear Cheerilee,
I am sorry your field trip did not go as planned. You should know that the School Board has been reprimanded for their failures in spelling as well as for endangering you and your class. They will be writing on chalk boards for quite some time, I suspect.
To make it up to you, why don’t you bring your class to Canterlot next week. I am certain that a field trip exploring Canterlot Castle and its gardens would prove a much safer venture for everypony.
Regards,
H.R.H. Princess Celestia