The Old Kingdom

by Hekkar

Chapter 2: A Few Trials

Author's Note:

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here..."
- Dante Alighieri

Figure why not since it is Tartarus. Also a small cameo of a villain, though it will be obvious of who he is :) .

Also I know my name creation skills are bleh, so sue me.

The gates of Tartarus. The very gates created by both the blood, sweat, and hard work of ponies both physically and magically and used to keep the almighty evils separate from the rest of Equus. Beyond these gates stood the prisons, simple stone pillars with magic nullifying runes and some in cages, all guarded by a three headed dog named Cerberus. The problem here is Cerberus is gone and the gates have been opened yet again. Seriously, at this point why even have the gates if just about anypony can open the gates at this point?

Within the gates, six little ponies stand beyond the gates as they look around and only find the imprint in the floor of the massive dog, but also the dried pool of slobber from when it was sleeping. They look back and see the gates close with a loud bang, causing the creamy mare to jump and land on her rainbow mare friend. As they look around, the lavender alicorn Twilight looks around "Alright girls. Now where is Cerberus?" she asks as they don't see him anywhere.

Applejack looks around "Ah to hay with that Twi. We ain't got to deal with that hound so lets head on in and find Tirek so we can get outta here. I rather not be here any longer then I think we need ta be" she says. Indeed that was the feeling many would get when they enter Tartarus, yet the problem there was once somepony enters they never leave.... well if they are condemned to Tartarus or dead. If living then they were free to come and go as they please it seems. As the six mares walk down the path, they see the full view of Tartarus from the spot where Cerberus once laid.

Out from the overlook, all of Tartarus could be seen. From the dark blue rocks that casted shadows over the walls to the glowing lights in the rocky towers standing tall from the ground. The abyss was also giving off a weird light that made the rocks glow a light purple color as all was heard is the echo of groans from the prisoners. Twilight remembered the light's well from when she and her friends rescued the princesses as they were locations of where prisoners were kept. Now on a much broader and not so end-of-Equestria look, there were hundreds, thousands even of lights as they light up Tartarus like some kind of somber lighting for a goth pony. To each tower, a stone stairway lead to each tower that looked as if a simple bunny would make it crumble to the ground.

Twilight looks back to her friends "Let's go girls" she says as they all start to walk down the path. Rainbow though, was flying overhead as she tries to fly off the path and to the prisons faster, but didn't get far as the lights start to darken of the abyss and what shoots out are blasts of red and black blast out and seem to aim to try and take down Rainbow. In truth it was a defense mechanism to take down any flying criminals if they try to escape. As Rainbow Dash twisted and turned avoiding the blasts, the blasts themselves turned and started to follow her as she flies faster, yet they also increased in speed. As soon as Rainbow took a sharp right and ended up hitting a rock that knocked her to the ground, the blasts kept going straight and into the wall with a loud bang as no more blasts came.

The mares catch up with her as Fluttershy checks her for wounds and smiles "Don't worry, just a bump" she says.

Rainbow nods and stands on her hooves "Thanks Fluttershy" she says. She turns to Twilight who seems to be examining the abyss "What the hay was that Twi?" she asks.

The princess simply shakes her head "My best guess is it was a defense spell, specifically made to track and neutralize any flying prisoners. When you crashed, they lost your flying signal and just crashed... or at least that's my hypothesis" she says. She helps Rainbow up to her hooves as the six continue down the path as they find a winding path with multiple other paths, all leading to the stairways and of course the path they need is straight. That's the only path they took, straight, as they passed hundreds of towers full of prisoners. All of them look like they come from different years of Equestria, some even before Equestria even existed as they look... lost just by a look in their eyes.

As the mane six continue down the path, they find the cell where Tirek was kept, but it laid empty upon the tower. As they go wide eye and gallop around in a frantic search, Rarity spoke up "Where is he? Shouldn't that ruffian still be here?" she asks.

Pinkie just bounces around "Maybe he needed to use the little centaur's room" she says as she stops and looks to find some deep hoof prints. She whistles as the girls walk over and find a few sets of them as Twilight's eyes shine "Oh! Oh! You have a idea!" Pinkie says as if knowing the sign.

Twilight nods as her horn glows a deep pink color as some kind of pink dome comes around them and vanishes. What appears next are a couple of cloaked figures and Tirek in the prison cell, but they seem more like ghosts "It's called a Echo spell. It allows somepony to see events that happened in the past, but not too far into the past. At most it goes to about a month ago and I haven't fully mastered it yet so no audio" she explains. As the six watch, the two figures drag him out of the cell and make him walk down the steps as now glowing hoofprints are seen "Let's follow them girls!" she calls out as they follow their leader.

The time passed on as it felt like hours had passed, the mane six keep running as Rarity groans and whines "Are we there yet? I'm getting s-s-sweaty!" she whines as she keeps galloping with them. Soon all six stop as they stand before a large door that stands lock. As they look it over they see that it had two faces on it, but those faces were... different. One was smiling and the other was frowning, similar to the Equestrian heads of Threatre, both white with black eyes and a black smile, but one had a pair of wings over it's head and the other a horn.

As Twilight got closer she saw some odd scribbles over the door as she looked at them as if trying to decipher them. As she got closer, a loud, joyous laugh filled the air around them as one of the heads seems to chip away. Before long the 'Smiling head' bursts as out comes a pegasi who flies over and lands on a large, flat pillar as he wore a mask, the same smiling mask that once graced the door, but along with it he wore a large, white cloak as his white wings stood stiff as if stretching them out. On closer look, they also had black tip feathers as the pegasi laughs "So long has it been since anypony has come here!" the Pegasus says as it sounds masculine. He looks over "Brother! Come on out and meet our new friends!" he yells out.

Before long the other mask breaks and out comes in a black flash, a unicorn appears on the other pillar. It was obvious this one was a unicorn from his black horn with a white tip. The unicorn also had a mask with a frown from the door and a black robe. The unicorn looks over "More ponies for the trials? They won't last" the unicorn says sounding male as well and a bit... down or depressed.

The pegasi laughs as he looks at them "Oh brother. Always seeing the grim side of things.... then again, not many survive the first trial anyhow" he says with a unnerving laugh.

Rainbow flies up as she glares "What the hay you saying?!" she demands.

In a instant the smiling one is looking at Rainbow, muzzle to muzzle as all she sees is the black eyes of the mask "A pegasi who leaves a trail of rainbows and with a rainbow mane and tail? The world has changed so much in such a time!" he says with a laugh. He looks at them as he is back on the pillar as he does a bow "I humbly apologize guest, I have not introduce myself yet. I am called Comedic Sock, the stallion of all comedy within theatre!" he announces as he laughs. Whether that was true or not, well nopony is gonna question since this is Tartarus.

The unicorn looks at them "And I am Drama Buskin, the stallion of all tragedy within theatre" he says. He teleports down as Sock flies down and lands next to him. As the two look at them, Drama looks at them "Since you are new I will explain. These are the three trials of Tartarus" he says in a depressed tone still as he looks at them. He walks around them as his mask stays locked on their eyes "Since their are six of you, each one will take two of you and put you through a trial. If you pass, then you all pass. If even one fails, then you all fail" he explains.

Sock smiles and appears next to Pinkie as he smiles "And this trial is for you Pinkie Pie" he says.

She gasps and giggles "How did you know my name?"

"Simple! Out of all the ponies I have seen and heard, your the only one who keeps a smile no matter what the situation" Sock says as he smiles. He hops around imitating her bouncy nature "And of course that one song is so catchy!" he says as he starts to bounce around and hum Pinkie's song of smiling as they bounce in unison.

Next to Rarity, Buskin appears as he looks at her "And your as well Rarity. Never have I met such a overdramatic mare before. If your talent wasn't in fashion, I think you be the best in theatre drama" he says. He moves around her "You always put true feeling instead of forced like those other actors of the arts and all of that makes me feel..... a warmth"

"It's called happiness brother!" Sock calls out.

Twilight stomps her hoof "Enough!" she says making Sock and Pinkie stop in midair of the bounce. She groans "Look, let's get this trial done and move on" she says annoyed.

The brothers return to the gate "Such a party pooper. Seriously you need to get the regal rod out of your-"

"Comedic" Buskin says to him as Comedic sighs. Comedic motions the two mares up as he looks to Buskin and nods. He walks over and stops before them. He looks at them as he lowers his head "I apologize for any discomfort" he says. His horn glows as everypony is incased in a black dome. Only Rarity and Pinkie can see one another as the shadows start to move around. Before them, a grey outline comes out of the dark dome as what pops out shocks both of them. One of the creatures to come out looks like Rarity, but not so beautiful, like she was some kind of savage. The other creature to come out is Pinkie, but with flat hair and a expression of anger on her, both of which were a duller color then the real ones.

Pinkie giggles "What is this? Some kind of mirror trick like the Mirror Pool? Oh! I know, let's have them stare at a-" she stops as the other Pinkie bucks her in the chest sending her flying across the floor. Rarity looks over, just to get the same treatment to her flank as she slides next to Pinkie.

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Outside the dome, the remaining mares and the brothers watch as Twilight looks at Sock laughing. He feels the glare and looks over "The first trial my dear. For one to advance, one must defeat themselves and others" he says as that just made her confused. He just points his hoof back at the dome as they see Rarity getting into a yelling match with her other self and Pinkie simply asking questions to her evil self, but no real response except for the occasional growl of annoyance.

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Rarity scoffs "Well at least I don't look like something a Diamond Dog who just tossed some scraps together" she says insulting her otherself. The other Rarity growls "At least I'm not as blind as a bat when it comes to love!" she retorts.

Rarity gasps "I am not!"

"Oh yeah? Blueblood. Trenderhoof. You loved them, but one was a jerk and the other would never fall for you. Face it Rarity, you wouldn't know love if it hit you. In. The. Face!" she yells as she socks Rarity making her collide into Pinkie.

The other pinkie scoffs as she looks at her happy self "What's the point of parties if nopony ever remembers them? If nopony ever even thinks of them again till the next one comes or till they need to fake it" she says. She walks over to Pinkie "You should of stayed on that Rock farm where you belong. No pony wants a party anymore, it's full of greedy good for nothing ponies" she says. She raises a hoof, just to get blasted into the wall and turned to dust by magic blast. The other Rarity looks over and gets blasted by confetti as she turns to dust.

Pinkie looks at Rarity "It's almost like the Changeling fight, but they actually talk!" she says not seeming to be affected by the insults. Rarity however just nods a bit and hides her pain of what the other one said. She wouldn't know love since neither of those stallions loved her, yet something kept bugging her about love. All that stopped when she was shaken from her view by Pinkie. When she looks around, she sees that all of their friends are there and family, but they were duller in color as the other two before.

Before they even spoke, Rarity just blasted them with magic as Pinkie did the same with her cannon. Before long they were the only two left as the dome stood up still. As they look around, they look at eachother and are about to blast one another.

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Twilight looks at the brothers "Why are they still fighting?" she asks them.

Buskin looks over "This is the downside of fighting. You become skeptical of others, even your friends. You turn on one another and soon dispose of one another" he says. He sees Twilight about to blast him out of anger as he doesn't even flinch. She blasts off a beam as it goes right through him, like he was air and it hits the wall. He shakes his head "We are not that easy to dispose" he says as he keeps watching.

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The two stare each other down as they got ready to blast one another. Just then, a spark hits Rarity's head as she looks at Pinkie "If your the real Pinkie Pie, then tell me this. What did I give that sea serpent when we were helping Twilight find the Elements of Harmony?" she asks.

Pinkie smiles as she giggles "That easy silly! You gave him part of your tail to fix his moustache and let us cross the river on his back" she says as she hops around. The barrier drops as the brothers appear before them.

Comedic laughs a bit "Seems you two made it through easier then others" he says. He rubs his chin "Tell me... how did you do it?" he asks them.

Pinkie smiles "Silly pony, we fought ourselves months ago at Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding against a bunch of Changelings!" she says happily.

Rarity smiles "That and well, true friends stick together" she says.

Drama sighs "At least you two did not betray one another like other ponies who came" he says. The two turn and seem to glow black and white as Drama seems to cry black tears and Comedic just laughs happily as they glow bright white and black as they become large masks on the door and open up to show a darkened pathway. The six mares walk through as the gates close behind them. Twilight and Rarity light up their horns and walk down the path as all they heard were the hoofsteps that echo.

As the group continued down the path following the echo prints, soon whispers were heard. They were soft and all ranged in emotion, yet the most prominent emotion in them was fear. All the whispers were fearful and like that of small foals as the pathway started to light up with green flames that led up to yet another door, but this one was of a black steel color and a creature before it. At a height, he stands as tall as Big Mac, but was a slight inch taller due to the sharp curve in his horns. As they got closer, they say the creature as it looked like a ram, but not as nice and fluffy as the ones Fluttershy tends to take care of.

It had eyes red as blood and a coat dark as shadows and four strong limbs attached to split hoofs. The parts of his body that were flesh were a dark flesh and with his face holding white hair of only white eyebrows and a beard. At the end of the beard were a couple of golden rings as if keeping it as a single beard. Around his neck was a small collar around his neck with three big bells on it as before seeing that, anypony would see his jagged teeth in his jaw. He stands at the top of some stairs as he is eating a hay bail. As the six walk up, they stop as they see he is eating as he stops as they look wide eye at him.

As his head turns, he seems to be drooling blood as he eats his hay in his mouth. He walks down the stairs as he looks at them "Who dares to stand before Ozymandias?! The Ram of Fear!" he says in a loud, booming voice. That voice rocked the halls as the mare's keep themselves steady... well all except for Fluttershy who bleated like a sheep and fell over on her back. Ozymandias looks at her confused "Uh.... does she do that often?" he asks as they try to wake her.

As he walks down the steps, Applejack and Rainbow try to wake Fluttershy up as he stands before them. His red eyes lock with Twilight's as he looks at her features of horn, wings, and crown. He seems a bit surprised "A princess? Here?" he says as he walks around her. His horns start to glow with a sickly blue color as he shakes his head "No, not a princess. A imposter" he says as Twilight's eye narrows "I mean no offense, but that is what He calls alicorns who are created and not born as such" he explains as so far only two are in that category.

Twilight looks at him "Look, arguments aside, we are looking for Tirek. Where is he?" she asks in a semi-commanding tone.

Ozymandias looks over at her "He is deeper, past the third trial. He was put there after his escape as punishment from Him" he says.

Twilight looks at the ram "Who is He?"

"That I cannot tell you as per His orders"

"Your not making sense here mister Ozymandias"

"I do as I please and right now, I need to do a trial" he says. He walks over and looks at a awoken Fluttershy and at Rainbow as his horns glow "This trial is for you two. The mare with a open heart, but is afraid of everything and the mare whose bravery blinds her to true horrors" he says as soon everything goes black for them. To the other mares, they just see all three in a trance with glowing blue eyes, but Ozymandias has glowing horns.

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Within this world the two were separated as multiple images appeared to each of them. For Rainbow, it was images not of just memories, but nightmares past. As she watches the images flash past her, whispers run through her mind and ears as she sees images from before. One of those images was of Cloudsdale falling to pieces as she scoffs "Going with Discord's tricks? Lame pal" she says as she smirks smugly.

"...Hate you" a voice says softly. Rainbow spins around and finds Scootaloo looking at her as Scootaloo speaks again "I hate you. You leave me behind to run off with your friends and leave me to worry if your ever coming back! What happens if you don't come back huh? What about your fans and ponies who care about you?!" she yells. This was one thing that she secretly feared more then anything else, losing Scoots. In all honesty, the little pegasi had grown on the daredevil mare so much, she was like a little sister to Rainbow. As Rainbow tried to get closer, Scoots backed away as she runs away into the darkness. The whispers got louder saying "You lost her", "...never get her back", "You ruined everything", as the voices kept speaking this words to her, she slowly curled up as the shadows start to come over her. Her memories keep playing before her, but one thing stood out from them. None of them were good memories, only bad ones.

She stands up as she bushes the shadows off of her "No. Not everything is ruined and I will get her back. Sure every pony hits a rough patch every now and again, but that's all they are. What makes them better is if you got friends to help you past them and smooth out the patches. Sure I'm sure Scoots feels that way, but that's why I go out and do the whole hero thing, to protect her and Ponyville" she says as the shadows around her start to fade.

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As the real world came to view, she turns and sees Fluttershy shaking like crazy, still in a trance with a ever standing Ozymandias. She looks over at the group "So it was more like a dream?" she asks as they nod.

She looks over and sees Ozymandias wearing a party hat as Pinkie giggles "I thought it make him look less scary" she says innocently. The mares now wait for their shy friend to conquer her fear. Now any pony would think it impossible, but she stood up to a dragon, a minotaur, and of course even reformed a evil spirit of Chaos, so her friends know she has more strength then anypony realize. Problem was, she could really use it right now.

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For the young Fluttershy, her fears were like a tsunami crashing down on her. Every little fear came over her and wrapped around her like a cocoon of darkness. Ponies watching her, animals being disappointed and dying or unable to be helped, unable to help her friends, losing her friends, everything that she feared from dreams, thoughts, and real life was there. She laid there on the floor, shivering like a leaf as tears ran down her eyes. A low laugh is heard "So you are the element of Kindness, yet you can't even stand on your own? How have they been able to put up with such a coward?" the voice asks.

Fluttershy just shakes as she closes her eyes, trying to wish everything away, like some kind of dream, a awful, fearful dream. As she tries to do so, she hears the memories of when she faced Iron Will, that dragon on the mountain and even Discord as she remembers how she overcame those fears. She found a strength in her, a strength of kindness, but also of helping her friends as she slowly rises "It- it's true I can't stand on my own, but that's why I'm not here alone" she says. Some of the memories shift and turn as they turn into her friends and animals she took care of in her life "I am here with my friends and with my friends, anything can be done" she says. She looks back at the memories "These memories will stay with me for a long time, but from them I learn of how to deal with these memories, to gain strength, but not for myself, but to help other ponies" she says with a smile. With that said and done the memories fade as the darkness recedes.

The mares hug one another as Ozymandias looks at them and groans "Oh I'm getting too old for this" he says. He walks up the stairs as they follow and Fluttershy stops him. She offers a hoof as he raises his own.

She smiles "Maybe one day I can help you relax and feel young. I have given a few sheep a massage to help them relax after birth or getting old" she says as she doesn't look into his eyes.

He looks down at her "Despite all I have done, you still help this old ram?" he asks. He chuckles as he turns to the gate "You certainly are a strange creature you ponies" he says. His horns glow as with a loud clang, the doors shift open and the next path opens. Fluttershy walks to Ozymandias and hugs him with her forehooves as the mares gallop down the path, wanting to get the trials over with. The doors close as the ram sits down before the door and resumes eating the hay bail.

This pathway was definitely weirder from the last ones. The pathway was not of stone, but of lime green tiles and actually had walls. The walls were covered in question marks as the question part was made up of phrases and riddles that glowed green as well, but a more disturbing part was of the dot beneath the question were jars full of a glowing green fluid. Applejack walked up to one of the jars and turned it around as it had a label on it 'Contained here is _____ 's brain', but it was empty. As the group continued down the pathway, the path got darker, but the riddles and phrases all remained alight in green, but soon some of the jars showed brains in them.

As they reached the next chamber, it was quite a interesting sight. Around the room, tables laid with blades near them, jars littered the shelves and of course the large door stands in the back with a large question mark over it. Before they could even move, the floor started to shift as a large glass box rises with glowing green liquid in it. A pony stands on top of the box as he looked a bit... weird. The pony stands on his hind legs as adorning his back is a dark green coat with a neon green question mark on it with smaller question marks scattered on the coat. His pants were pretty much the same way as his coat, but led to black slippers on his hooves. On top of his light brown mane was a green hat with a purple strap around it as he turns on one hoof and shows his front. His eyes were a light green color as he had a green horn on his head as well. Under the coat was a white shirt, purple collar to his suit and a purple tie with a question mark on it. In one hoof, he spins around a cane like object with a question mark on it as he smiles.

He looks down at the mane six through his rectangular, light blue lensed glasses as he taps his cane and two lines appear on the box. As Twilight looks at them, she seems confused "Riddle me this, riddle me that?" she asks. The stallion simply nods as he taps his cane and only Twilight and Applejack stand before him. The others are strapped to tables with swords to their necks.

Before any pony could say a thing, he smiles "Welcome to the last trial little ponies. This is not a skill of connection, but of wit. Before you two are your friends, ready to meet the eternal end, but I can stop them. The only thing you both must do is beat me at my game" he says. He sits on the box as he taps the lines to show his game.

Applejack looks up with a glare "Just who the hay are you anyway?!" she yells as he chuckles.

He stands on his hindhooves and tips his hat "You may call me Enigma. My father was quite on the money about my name. Shame he never saw how far I go with it" he says. He goes down to his hooves as he looks at them "Shall we begin?" he asks.

Twilight steps forward as she looks at him "What are the rules?" she asks.

Enigma smiles "The only rule is this. Answer all three riddles and they will live. Miss one, and off goes the head" he says. He looks to Applejack "Also... only one may answer at a time. Starting with you cowpony" he says. He smiles as he twirls his cane.

Applejack smirks "I'm ready for it!" she says with a grin.

He chuckles "Very well.

Riddle me this:

You can have me but cannot hold me,

Gain me and quickly lose me,

If treated with care I can be great,

And if betrayed I will break,

What am I?" he asks with a smile.

Applejack stands there with a confused look on her face as she tries to ponder this "I have ya, but I can't hold ya. Yer quickly gain and lost and will break if betrayed" she says as she thinks about it. She closes her eyes to think as Twilight and Enigma look at her, waiting. She thinks more about it as a thought comes to her head of when Discord tricked her into thinking telling her friends the truth could end their friendship. She smirks as she looks at him "It's trust. Easily gained and lost, but also broken from betrayal of it" she says.

Enigma smiles as his horn glows and the swords move off the necks and instead point to the ponies "Well that is one down. Two more to go" he says. He keeps his look on Applejack as he smiles "I have a special one for Twilight and for that you get the second one" he says. He breathes in and smiles

"Riddle me this:

I fly, yet I have no wings,

I cry, yet I have no eyes,

Darkness follows me,

Lower light I never see.

What am I?" he asks with his signature smile again.

Applejack thinks about this one with less time then it took for the other one as she chuckles "Why that's easy. Yer a cloud" she says.

With a slight twitch of his smile his magic makes the swords disappear "Very clever. Now for you princess is the final riddle and now the ultimate fate" he says. He stands on his hind legs as he smiles and looks at the princess

"Riddle me this:

I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness.

I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes.

I have no muscle, yet I rule two halves.

What am I?" he asks as he waits for the final answer.

Twilight's eyes get a sparkle as she answers in three seconds later "The brain" as she smiles. True to his word, Enigma's horn lights up as the friends are returned.

He hops off the box as he does a bow "A good show princess, but a warning I wish to give" he says.

Twilight looks at him "What warning is this?" she asks.

He gets down on his hooves and moves around the mane six as he smiles "The world of Tartarus is not as it seems young mares. Behind the walls here, eyes watch every step, move and turn. One thing I will say is that whatever you six wish to do here, then do it fast before He finds you" he says.

Rainbow groans "Who is He? Tell us!" she demands.

He waves a hoof at her "No can do rainbow mare. That's against the rules" he says. He disappears and reappears on the box as the floor opens and the box starts to lower "I will say though. I am quite interest to see how those minds can work out this predicament" he says as he vanishes and the door opens.

The mares all gallop through the doorway following the now very brightly glowing echo prints as they follow it down to the lower reaches of Tartarus where they found cages suspended over a pit of flickering green fire. Only three cages rested in this area as the prints led to one cage in the center. As they carefully ascended the stairs to this cage, what they saw in it was.... horrifying to say the least.

Unbeknownst to them though, they would soon meet some of the protectors of Tartarus.

Comments

[Moongaze14]

This chapter was very entertaining.

[Crescent Nebula]

5255379 Indeed it was I can only wonder what there reaction to a another alicorn will be.

[Hekkar]

5256941 Trust me, questions will rise.

Also for everyone reading the comments, be prepared for at least three court trials in later chapters