My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 190: Set A Trap?!

A thick cloud of magic smoke signaled the arrival of Shining Armor and Discord to the outskirts just before the gates of Tartarus. "Thank you for flying Air Discord," Discord spoke in an exaggerated tone of voice. "Please remember to grab your valuables from the overhead compartment, and watch your step as you depart."

Shining said nothing, he just clutched his saddle bag tightly as it hung across his chest and under his wings.

Discord returned to his normal state of appearance but a second later with a snap of his talons. Just up ahead he and the prince could both make out the worn columns that served as the marker for the gates of Tartarus. Said gates were actually a giant door with a strange, otherworldly symbol carved on it in an ominous shade of dark purple. Two guards stood at attention outside, one wearing the golden armor often associated with Celestia's guards, while the other had dark blue armor that was more in line with what Princess Luna often used for her private security forces (some of which even had fangs like bats). Neither spoke a word, they just clutched their spears and stood at attention.

"Well, here we are. Tartarus. You'll truly never find a more spine tingling place than this maximum security prison," Discord commented as he observed the surroundings. "Kind of makes you wonder why the princesses didn't throw me into there, although with my powers I probably could've broken out in a heart beat or two," He turned to the prince. "This is as far as I'll go. I have my own safety to think about you understand. After all, I don't think Tirek would be very happy to see me."

Shining just nodded his head. "It's alright, Discord. You've been a big help already. Without you it would be a hop, skip, and a jump and then some just to get here. And that's time we don't have."

"But how, may I ask, are you going to get into Tartarus? Even if you're captain of the Royal Guard I doubt they'll just open the door for you because you say so." Discord nervously commented.

"Not to worry, I came prepared," Shining explained as he dug into his saddle bag and pulled out a rather large crystal. On the top of it was a small circle. The whole thing looked almost like a telescope. "Princess Luna was kind enough to give me the key to Tartarus before we left. It's the only way anyone ever gets in or out, well except for Tirek," He turned to Discord. "You stay here and keep watch. If Tirek, Chrysalis, or anyone else imprisoned here tries to make a run for it stop them at all costs! And be ready to teleport somewhere else at a moment's notice in case Tirek's already busted out."

"What about the guards? Wouldn't they know?" Discord questioned.

Shining shook his head. "Depending on how Tirek escaped they may have seen nothing. Tirek's method from last time remains a mystery, all we know is that he escaped during the brief period of time when Cerberus left his post." And then with that, he trotted forward towards the gates.

The guards remained alert and did not alter their expression in the least as Shining approached them. Not even when he flashed his badge to show authority and obtain authorization did the guards say anything. They simply stood by and let him pass.

Using what magic he had, Shining lifted the heavy key up and inserted it into the lock. The click echoed everywhere, punctuating the silence of the surrounding valley. The door swung wide open and Shining didn't hesitate for a second as he trotted inside. If he had, he might have seen what appeared to be a timer appear on top of the key, and already it was counting down!

Discord gulped. "I don't think that was part of the plan. It looks like you may have less time than you think, Shining Armor." But Shining was too far to hear Discord properly.

---

The interior of Tartarus was dimly light, a series of caves with cages surrounding both sides. What space wasn't taken up by cages or steps consisted of columns similar to the ones he'd seen outside, and they looked to be even older. The entire place looked older than time itself. To say nothing of the strange creatures who could be seen only as ominous shadows as the prince trotted past.

Eventually the rows of cages ended, a series of stairs built into a surrounding cliff led to the rear of the prison complex where the truly worst offenders were kept: Those deemed too dangerous to be lined up with the other prisoners. And Shining knew there were only two occupants there, one of which he had put there himself.

Shining made his way up the winding stairs, without magic it was quite a journey and although he wasn't out of shape by means he was still panting considerably by the time he'd reached the top. He couldn't stop for more than a few seconds to catch his breath, however. Looking around, the lighting prevented him from being able to see whether Tirek was still in his cage as he should be. But the other cage was occupied.

Steadying himself, the prince trotted up to the cage Chrysalis was imprisoned in and called out to her. "Hey, Chrysalis."

The disgraced former queen slowly emerged, and when her eyes fell upon the sight before her she threw back her head and laughed. "My my, if it isn't Prince Shining Armor himself. Did you miss me?"

"Absolutely not!" Shining coldly hissed.

Chrysalis only laughed harder. "Oh that's too bad, because I most certainly missed you. Even though you threw me into this wretched, forsaken place, I never stopped thinking about you. And now here you are. So, what are you in for? You must've done something pretty awful to get the princesses mad enough to throw you into Tartarus with the likes of me."

Shining stomped a hoof down and snorted. "Can it, Chrysalis! I'm in no mood for your games! I want information and you're going to give it to me."

"Oh really? And what sort of information would that be, oh prince?" The changeling snickered a bit.

"Tirek. I wanna know if he's still here, or if he already bolted from this place," Shining demanded of Chrysalis. "I'm only going to ask nicely once: Do you know if he's here?"

Chrysalis just rolled her eyes. "Oh you're no fun, Shining Armor. I do so miss the times I would wind you up and get under your fur. Don't act like you didn't miss it too."

"Don't try to change the subject! Either tell me what I want to know, or stop wasting my time!" Shining demanded as a few sparks escaped from his horn.

Chrysalis reluctantly sighed. "Well when you put it like that, I suppose I have no choice. Yes, Tirek is indeed here. Not sure what you would want with him though."

"What I want with him is none of your concern. Now call him out so I can see him, you'll forgive me if I don't just take you at face value." Shining demanded of the former queen.

"If that's really the way you want to play," Chrysalis remarked, her voice dripping with malice and hatred towards the pony she was currently talking to. She turned her head so as not to have to keep looking at him and called out. "Tirek, we have a visitor. One I think you're very well acquainted with."

"Chrysalis, I'm not falling for that again," The voice of Tirek coldly answered. "Don't you have better things to do than make a fool of me?"

But Shining spoke up. "I'm right here, Tirek! Chrysalis isn't lying this time! So come out and talk to me, unless you're afraid!"

---

That did the trick, two sets of red paws grasped the bars on a nearby cage and soon the familiar face of Tirek showed itself. But Shining hadn't seen the centaur in the state he now was, compared to the last encounter Tirek no longer had dark red fur or long, black horns. No longer did Tirek stand tall enough to tower over the prince but instead seemed to about on level with him, and instead of horns he had two little black stubs on the top of his head.

If not for the description given to him by Celestia, Shining would've assumed he was looking at an entirely different pony all together. "So this is what you look like when you have no magic of your own? Color me not impressed." Shining snickered a bit.

Tirek just hissed. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face in my presence again, Shining Armor. I assume you're not here because you too have been branded a criminal and thrown in here without a bit to your name?"

Shining shook his head. "Drop the act, Tirek! You've gotten my attention. So just what kind of diabolical scheme could you possibly have cooked up from the confines of your cell?"

The centaur innocently answered. "Schemes? Me? Why, whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about, don't try to play innocent!" Shining demanded as he glared at Tirek directly. "You're behind the disappearance of all the magic in Equestria. This has got your grubby paws written all over it."

"Oh yes, the magic theft. How unfortunate to see all that delicious magic go to waste," Tirek commented as he licked his lips. "It would be far better suited if it were inside of me. The maker knows I haven't had a decent meal since I was thrown in here by the likes of you."

Shining shuddered as though a sudden chill had swept past him. "Honestly, Tirek, do you practice being creepy?!" He then shook his head to regain his composure. "But are you saying that you're not behind the magic theft? That silver tongue of yours won't help you with me, I won't be taken in by your lies."

Tirek just laughed in his throat, his voice sounded noticeably hoarse. "Prince, it's like you don't even know me at all. You really think I'd go to all the trouble of draining the magic from Equestria, and not make absolutely sure you knew it was me?"

The prince tried hard not to groan. "Oh, so that's the way you wanna play it, huh? Well okay, I'll humor you for a bit, Tirek. If you really aren't behind the magic theft, then at least you must know something about who or what is. So out with it, what do you know?!"

But Tirek only laughed harder and harder, his hoarse laugh drowning out even the sounds of the other inmates from far away. "I don't see why not, it's not like you'll be escaping to tell anyone the truth."

"What do you mean? That's exactly what I'm going to do when I wring the truth out of you! So you'd better start talking right now, mister!" Shining bellowed with a glare.

Tirek paused for a moment to catch his breath and regain his composure. But a smirk still crept across his face as he declared. "Oh, didn't your fellow princesses tell you?"

"Tell me what, Tirek? Enough of your games!" Shining growled. He was rapidly losing patience with Tirek's non-answers.

Tirek's smirk grew bigger. "That key to Tartarus? It's on a time limit, a very strict one at that. And I'm afraid it's about to expire very soon. Without magic, that key is as useless as every other artifact in Equestria will be. All I had to do was stall you long enough for the clock to run out, which should be any moment now."

Shining's eyes grew wide with horror! "What?! No, no, no!" He immediately dashed down the steps and to the door! Alas, without enough magic to teleport he was unable to reach the front before the door slammed shut in his face with a loud thud!

Tirek cackled with fiendish glee! "You're far too easily tricked, prince! And now you're stuck here with me, forever!"

Author's Note:

Part of this is drawing on inspiration from my "What If?" rewrite of the "School Raze" two parter, where I had the key, the design to Tartarus, and the key's time limit. We never got an explanation as how to the key was obtained in the original episode, or why it only worked once. And Tartarus' design was quite generic and uninspiring, to say nothing of how most of the "prisoners" were just creatures from the Everfree Forest, meaning the ponies imprisoned creatures defending their territory.

Comments

[kahnac]

I love the way you write the interactions between Shining and Tirek. Maybe it's my favoritism talking, but something about the way they talk to each other makes them come off as if they were archfoes. Given what she did to him, yes, i'm sure Chrysalis could pass for that, too. But it's a little less intense than what went down between Tirek, and Shining. And given all the things he pretty much put Shining Armor through in the S04 finale, he feels alot more like a personal threat than the bug.

I could probably make an archrivalry comparison between them and another duo, but it's late right now, so I can't think of any at the moment. Maybe tomorrow when I come back. ^^; Though i'd like to hear YOUR thoughts on the matter.

[Comickook]

Excellent job on the latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. And, again, you bring up valid points in the author's notes.

I especially liked the reasoning behind the time limit on the Tartarus key as well as Shining's interactions with both Chrysalis AND Tirek.

[Comickook]

9865318

Let's see: Batman and the Joker

Superman and Lex Luthor (or, to give an EVEN MORE personal example in the animated series, Darkseid)

Spider-Man and either Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus or Venom

Are any of those what you were thinking of for your "arch-foes" comparison?

[kahnac]

9865589
Wow! Thank you so much! Those actually WERE what I was thinking of in regard. And now that I can, I think I can compare Chrysalis to being Doc Ock (given the lengths he went to to become "Superior Spiderman" which STILL pisses me off how that went down, and why I hate that storyline). With Tirek, however......it actually be like that of The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn. There are actually lots of choices I could go with, but for now i'll stick with those.

[Yoshifan30]

That did the trick, two sets of red paws grasped the bars on a nearby cage and soon the familiar face of Tirek showed itself. But Shining hadn't seen the centaur in the state he now was, compared to the last encounter Tirek no longer had dark red fur or long, black horns. No longer did Tirek stand tall enough to tower over the prince but instead seemed to about on level with him, and instead of horns he had two little black stubs on the top of his head.

That should have been a clue that he didn't technically do anything

[Yoshifan30]

Tirek's smirk grew bigger. "That key to Tartarus? It's on a time limit, a very strict one at that. And I'm afraid it's about to expire very soon. Without magic, that key is as useless as every other artifact in Equestria will be. All I had to do was stall you long enough for the clock to run out, which should be any moment now."

Son of a Guns N Roses he tricked us again dang it