Rainbow Dash Goes to Hell

by Obsidian Chitin

Shores of Tartarus

Rainbow looked up at the oppressive cliffs. If infinity were rock, she figured it would look a bit like this cliffside. Once again, she flapped her wings as hard as she could. No dice. With a sigh, Rainbow continued her trek along the beachside.

After a few minutes walking, she came across a set of stairs carved into the cliff face. Each step was as high as she was tall, and it seemed to just keep going up in a slow spiral around the cliff. At least she assumed so, she couldn't see where it lead. She flapped her wings once more. She still could not fly.

"I'm going to have to climb that?" Rainbow asked with a groan. Silence answered her. With no other options, she began climbing the steps of Tartarus.

Step after step.

Don't look down.

Step after step.

When would these stairs end?

Frustration began to bubble over as she took each step as fast as she could. It seemed that she wasn't getting tired anytime soon, so she just kept at it at full speed.

Rainbow Dash slowed down. She had to be there, at least nearly there!

She looked over the side.

She saw sand.

Confused, Rainbow looked back up. She was back at the bottom. Her mouth gaped open as she fell flat on her flank. A strangled noise of confusion emanated from her throat.
Rainbow settled on screaming several curses while showing the staircase several obscene wing gestures.

---

Any kind of sand castle she attempted to make was futile. The sand always returned to its previous state. "This place is so boring!"

She whipped her tail and slumped on the sand. With nothing else to do, she began to dig. Within a few seconds, she hit something hard. Curious, Rainbow began to dig out the object.

It was a skull.

Rainbow Dash groaned again and tossed it to the side.

---

"Maybe you should try climbing the mountain again."

"I tried ten times, Skuller! Every time, the same thing. I get nowhere! What's the point?!"

"Perhaps the eleventh time?"

Rainbow gave the skull an incredulous look. She then moved its jaw. "Nevermind."

"Seriously, why couldn't I have died with a Daring Do book or something? I'm so bored!"

"You're so bored!"

"I'm sooooooooo booooooooored!"

"You're soooooo-"

"You have got to be kidding me."

Rainbow Dash froze, then tossed the skull to the side. Somepony else! Social activity! Though the voice did sound familiar...
Slowly, Rainbow turned around. Towering over her, with a fairly bemused expression, was Nightmare Moon. Dash wasted no time, stomping her hooves and flaring her nostrils before charging and then launching herself at the threat. She let out a combat yell, ready to wring the neck of this dark horse.

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes, waited until Rainbow nearly hit her, then lowered her head and speared Rainbow Dash through the chest with her horn.

Rainbow Dash let out a scream and writhed. Nightmare tapped her hoof impatiently as she waited for her to be done. She did not have to wait long.

"...Y' know, I was expecting this to hurt." Rainbow said.

"You are already dead." Nightmare deadpanned.

"Oh." Rainbow said. "...You don't seem that mad. Or happy. You haven't cackled evilly once. Don’t you do that, like, all the time?"

"I am not the same being you fought before. Do you not know what your Elements did to Luna?"

Rainbow's pose faltered slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Ponies are complex. You can't simply 'reform' them. It doesn't work that way. You see, part of Luna's soul was corrupted by jealousy and loneliness. Her transformation was simply giving in to the temptation that part of her was whispering." Nightmare explained. "When you used your Elements, it took the corrupted portion of her soul and eradicated it. It killed me."

"K-killed?" Rainbow stammered.

"I was sent right to Hell, an incomplete portion of a soul, practically but a child. The Queen took me in, humbled me, and raised me as her own. I gained a new name... Hades."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Hell? Queen? And isn't Hades more of a colt's name?"

Hades shook its head. "I am but a partial soul; I am neither mare nor stallion. I take this form, as it is burned into my memory, but I can take the form of any pony I please." Its body turned red, flesh peeling and reforming. Rainbow looked away from the disturbing sight, trying not to vomit.

She briefly wondered if she even could.

When she turned back, Hades had turned into Celestia... Only not. Its mane and tail blazed with fire, and two wicked horns poked out of the back of its head. "Mother is fond of this form." Hades admitted. "It's more fitting, don't you think?"

"Why are you here?" Rainbow asked.

"After Tirek escaped, Mother refused to allow another such incident to occur. So, she trained me to become the guard of Tartarus." Hades said. "When Tirek was returned, I wanted to make sure he never would even think of trying again." Hades then put on the sort of smile a killer would wear as they hear their victim's last breath. "So I punished him."

"You... Punished him." Rainbow said uneasily. "How?"

"My mother said to bring you unharmed. I assumed she meant psychologically as well." Hades replied.

Rainbow stopped in place, her breathing heavy. "You... You're a monster."

Hades smirked, and began to shift form. Flames traveled across its body, scorching its flesh until it was a burnt husk. Rainbow gaped at the hideous image, before the flesh began to reform. The mane and tail sparked, and lit aflame. Horns spouted from its head. Black flesh healed into white fur. The new cutie mark, a sun. The being before her looked familiar, but twisted.
"What?" Rainbow said, confused.

"I am, yes." Hades said. "A monster. But one that exists for a reason. The wicked shall never escape their proper punishment under my eye. As for my look... Reminds you of a certain Princess of the Sun, does it not?"

"You keep changing your look. Why?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't like staying in one form too long. I usually take the shape of somepony from your memories, altered by their sins." Hades said.

"What sins? She’s the Princess of Equestria, for pony’s sake! Her approval rating is a hundred and ten percent!" Rainbow snapped.

Hades tisked, shaking its head. "Nopony is a saint."

"But Celestia-!"

"-Is no exception." Hades interrupted. "Now, if you want to see your friends, I suggest we get moving."

Hades then began furthering its walk along the beach. Rainbow Dash stared at it before reluctantly following.

"So, what's with that staircase?" Rainbow asked.

"Meant to mess with ponies trying to escape." Hades replied. "You cannot go anywhere without me. An additional security measure I had set up."

"Uh-huh. So, how do we get to that gate?" Rainbow asked. "Y'know, the one to Equestria."

"We are not going there." Hades replied. "We are going to see mother. Or, precisely, you are."

Rainbow put two and two together. "You're sending me to Hell?!" She stammered, standing her ground. She bared her teeth and stamped her ground. "No way! I'm a good pony, I don't deserve that!"

"You misunderstand. You are not being condemned; You would not be here if that were the case. No, she has a proposition. You may yet see your friends again." Hades said.

Rainbow blinked, and saw that they were at the top of one of the many mountains of Tartarus. This one seemed to have an arch, one twisted and gnarled with thorns and flesh turned to stone. Hades began to walk up to it, its flesh burning once again. The new form had black fur, a very elegant violet and white mane, a cluster of diamonds for a cutie mark, and familiar nightmarish eyes.

When Dash saw this perversion of her friend, she growled angrily.

"This form angers you, I see." Hades said with a wicked smile. Its horn lit with flames, and the arch caught similarly, its own flames far redder. The air within the arc began to shimmer and melt, and a glowing red and yellow gateway of energy appeared. A feeling of dread overcame Rainbow, and she shuddered.

"Mother awaits." Hades said. Rainbow looked at the gate of Hell uneasily, then finally walked through the gateway.