From The Gates

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 4

Envy noticed the figure in front of it and the group and gritted its teeth as it yelled out to the large stallion "Sloth! What took you, ya big lummox!? You mean to tell me that YOU'RE the last one those demons were looking for!?"

Greed slowly pieced together the situation and then drew himself towards a logical conclusion "Those tremors in the pits...That was you, wasn't it!?"

The one called Sloth slowly nodded and turned his body to face the others "They woke me up from my nap...Escaping was a pain..."

Lust smiled "Always the sleeper, aren't you? You came at a good time, actually...We're about to be free from this dreadful place, but that large monstrosity in front of us won't let us pass. Can you help us, please?"

Sloth turned to see the three-headed dog plopped on all fours after it recovered from the massive hit sent to it. The heads growled once more, but all eyes were on the large indolent pony in front of them. Sloth turned back to face the dog as his chains rattled on the ground "So I have to fight again? What a pain..." He slowly went into a defensive stance as it stared down the dog with its pupilless eye.

The three heads roared in fury and charged at Sloth with full force while the indolent pony stood his ground lazily. When the dog reached Sloth, it stopped in front of him and raised a massive paw to bring it down upon him without hesitation. A large slam was heard, and the three dogs grinned evilly to think they squashed their foe.

Gluttony watched with widened and worried eyes "Oh no! Sloth! He's smashed by the dog!"

Wrath squinted his eyes, and then smirked to himself "I beg to differ, Gluttony..." The rest of the group joined the furious pony and viewed what was about to happen next.

The paw laid on the ground as if Sloth were squashed flat, but then it trembled profusely, to which the three heads shared an incredulous expression on each of their faces. The paw was then slowly raised against the dog's will to show Sloth underneath it while he growled and pushed up the paw with his forelegs. The dog's heads were baffled at the sight and didn't expect to be bounded over after Sloth tossed the paw off of himself.

Greed grinned "Alright! Way to go, Sloth! You got this!" The avaricious pony never thought he would have this much confidence in the laziest of his family members, but if was enough to free him and the others, he would do just that.

The large dog got back up on its feet and each head glared at Sloth disdainfully, while the indolent pony slowly rose on his hindlegs like a confronted bear. The chains hanging from the cuffs on his forelegs rose along with his towering height. Sloth murmered "What a pain..." He then brought his right foreleg back and quickly swung it horizontally in front of him as the chain hanging from the cuff shot around and lashed at the dog's heads with peerless might.

The dog's craned their heads back as they reared up on their hindlegs and rubbed their snouts. Before they could recover, Sloth followed up with his left foreleg and performed the same action as before, only the chain on his left foreleg went for the dog's hindlegs. The chain connected with the left hindleg easily and it made the wound on the right leg caused by Greed hurt much worse. The dog's roared in pain, then toppled over as they fell forward and slammed their chins onto the ground. There was a large tremor after the dog landed, but Sloth and the group were satisfied to know that the dog had temporarily passed out from shock.

Envy sighed "Finally, it's over! And we're making good time, too! Let's get out of here befor-" Out of nowhere, the jealous pony felt weak for a brief moment and stumbled a little.

Wrath noticed Envy's condition and trotted over to it "Envy, are you alright? Did the monster cause that much damage to you?"

The jealous pony moaned as it rubbed its head, then shook off whatever bothered it and donned the same cocky and indifferent expression as before "Of course I'm alright! There's no way that lousy mutt could harm me THAT much! Let's just hurry and open those gates before the thing wakes up!" It then galloped towards the gates without a moment to lose. The rest of the group followed suit, save for Sloth, who only plopped back onto all fours and slowly trotted over.

Envy was the first to reach the gate, and it rammed its head into the gates and pushed at them while it growled in annoyance "Damn! It...won't...budge!" The jealous pony grunted and did not relent despite being unsuccessful in even moving the gates forward.

Greed cracked his neck left and right "Hang on, we're coming, too!" He joined Envy and the two trudged in place as their heads were pressed against the gates. Gluttony, Lust, and Wrath soon followed and mustered their combined efforts. They were only lucky to get the gates to budge a mere centimeter, and Greed was the first to notice "Hey! We're doing it! C'mon, put your backs into it, everyone!" The group continued their process, and Sloth eventually joined.

The indolent pony stopped and stared at the group working "Opening a door...What a pain..." He then trotted over and pressed his head on the gates, and they slowly began to open with Sloth's effort added with the rest of the group.

Envy saw this and grinned "Yes! Almost there!" The jealous pony couldn't stop now, and the rest of the group felt the same way as they gave it all they got. Eventually, the gates loomed open to reveal the land beyond it.

When they opened the gates at an acceptable width, they stopped pushing at them and galloped outside to leave Tartarus behind. Envy looked back and gave a condescending grin at the unconscious dog "See ya later, ya damn beast..." It then joined the rest of the group as they left their former prison in the dust.

The six former homunculi trudged along a barren wasteland almost similar to a desert while the moon casted a pale glow over them all. Greed took a deep breath "Finally...Now I can get out of this form!" His horn glowed, and the avaricious pony went back to normal with his charcoal black coat and spikey brown mane.

Everypony, save for Wrath and Sloth, looked at Greed in surpise. Gluttony was the first to speak "Oh, wow! Greed, is that what you look like? I thought you came here in your Ultimate Shield form!"

Greed shrugged his forelegs "Pretty much. If only I had my sunglasses on me, though. I already miss them right now..."

Lust shook her head with a small smile, but then looked to the sky as she took a deep whiff and sighed "The air is fresh out here...I'm glad we were able to escape that dreadful place. But where are we now? I figured our freedom would be as sweet as our victory..."

Wrath looked around, and noticed there was a mountain trail in the distance "Perhaps we can get a better look at our new location by traversing up that path up ahead."

Sloth groaned in complaint while he trotted slowly "Walking for so long is a pain..."

Greed looked back to crack a witty remark at the indolent pony behind him, but then noticed that Envy was a few feet behind Sloth looking fatigued. He turned around and met with it to match its pace "Hey. What's wrong?"

Envy shifted its eyes towards Greed and casted a weak glare "Nothing's wrong..." It tried to snap at him, but it muttered as if tired.

The avaricious pony raised an eyebrow "You barely managed to yell at me, and your ten paces behind Sloth. I'm pretty sure something's wrong with you right now. What is it?"

Envy growled and looked down as it trotted alongside with Greed "I don't know, okay? I'm probably just tired...Not much else to do when you're sitting in a cell without much to work with! Besides, I'm already wondering how I got here in this form..."

Greed chuckled "One step ahead of you there. But it doesn't matter now. We're back in the game and we're living a free life here! We just gotta figure out just where the hell we are, and we'll make the best of it!" The avaricious pony already felt his old ambition returning when he pondered on what possible valuables could be stored in this world unknown to him and the others.

Envy scoffed "Whatever...We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, now won't we?" Greed never expected someone like Envy to sound so calm when he was used to its harsh and cocky tone of voice.

The avaricious pony shook his head and called up ahead "Hey! Sloth!" The indolent pony stopped and turned his head back as he moaned in question "You're gonna carry Envy! The poor thing can't make it too far like this!"

Envy jerked its head towards Greed and glared "I didn't ask for your help..."

Greed smirked defiantly "Too bad..." He then hoisted Envy onto his back and trotted towards Sloth. The indolent pony slowly arched his head down and allowed Greed to slide Envy onto his back.

Sloth felt like trotting even slower knowing that he had to carry something other than his chains on a random journey into the unknown 'This is so troublesome...I actually enjoyed an eternal rest, only to wake up again...' He groaned in defeat at his current position "What a pain..."

Gluttony had a spring in his step while he trotted alongside Lust with a wide smile, and even hummed an offkey tune "I can't wait to see where we are!" He almost hesitated in his pace when his stomach growled loudly. But the voracious pony only grinned "Maybe I'll find something good to eat here..."

Lust only chuckled at Gluttony's innocence while Wrath closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment. In time, the group made it towards the mountain trail and worked their way up. Envy was already taking a nap, much to Sloth's chagrin while he carried the jealous pony. Greed and Wrath competed to take point while Lust and Gluttony trotted side-by-side as the moon continued to glow in the sky while the stars around it twinkled in luminescent wonder.

The group of former homunculi walked long enough until they noticed a new and incredible sight up ahead. They all stopped and gazed at the distant feature, and Envy managed to wake up and rub its eyes "Huh? What's going on? Where are we now?" The jealous pony looked around and stopped its gaze where the rest of the group laid their own eyes.

In the distance along their given path, they noticed a city hanging over the edge of a mountain, with a white and gold castle standing proudly inside of its massive walls. For the first time in their new lives, they managed to find proper civilization.

Greed took a few steps forward and donned a toothy grin as he began to laugh "Things just keep getting better and better..." he pointed a hoof forward "Watch, everyone! Soon, I'll go in there and claim what's mine along with the rest of the world! Just you wait and see!!"