Beasts and Burdens

by Metool Bard

Fiction Reflects Reality

Beasts and Burdens Chapter 5:
Fiction Reflects Reality

"This isn't real. This isn't real," Sweetie Belle chanted to herself, shaking with fright. "This is just a bad dream I'm having because of that book. I'm gonna wake up any moment now."

"Book?" asked the Chimera's snake head. It swung down towards the frightened Sweetie Belle, eyeing her with interest. "What book?"

"N-nothing! No book! I'm just, talking to myself!" squeaked Sweetie Belle.

"It wouldn't happen to be that sssssssstory about that accursssssssed pegassssssssussssss Bellerophon, would it?"

Sweetie Belle blanched. With all of the creatures that lived in Equestria, she didn't doubt the existence of a chimera. But the fact that this was the same one from her book was simply mind-boggling. "Wha—? But, eh, how did...? That is..."

"Oh, come now, you silly little filly," said the lion head in a condescending tone. "Do you think a regal creature like us would forget a defeat like that? Not even five hundred years in Tartarus is enough to wipe that memory from our collective minds."

"Wait, you're from Tartarus?!" yelped the Boss Diamond Dog.

"Um, Boss? What's Tartarus?" asked the large dog.

"It's where all of the scary, nasty creatures of this world are kept imprisoned, you numbskull!" barked the pug, almost forgetting who was in the same room. He quickly remembered when the lion head snarled in his face. "Er, not that you're nasty or anything. Scary, yes. Nasty, not in the..."

"Saaaaaaave your simpering, muuuuuuuuuutt," said the goat head. "We didn't break out of Tartarus juuuuuuust to listen to you grovel."

"Well, what did you come here for?" asked the Boss.

"Oh, it'sssssss nothing that exssssssssstreme," hissed the serpent head. "You ssssssssee, after Bellerophon defeated usssssss and ssssssssssent ussssssssss to Tartarusssssss, we met a very, sssssssssspecial prissssssssoner."

"A special prisoner?" asked the pug.

"You know of Cerberus, the hound who guards the Gates of Tartarus, yes?" said the lion head. "Well, it turns out he has a brother. A brother named Orthrus."

The serpent head then exhaled a cloud of purple smoke, which swirled and shifted until it formed pictures. "A thousand years ago, just as there were two alicorn sisters who ruled Equestria, there were two dogs of myriad heads that stood by their sides. One was Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the sun, and the other was Orthrus, the twin-headed dog of the moon. When Princess Luna transformed into the infamous Nightmare Moon, she used her dark magic to enchant Orthrus, making him a valued servant of all that is black and vile. Quite admirable to be blessed by the princess like that, if I do say so myself."

"Oh yesssssss. Mosssssssst admirable," said the serpent head, nodding in agreement.

"Anyway, just as the two sisters were fighting, Cerberus and Orthrus had their share of battles," the lion head continued. "But for them, it was far beyond a sibling's jealousy. See, Orthrus was quite mad."

"Mad?" asked the large Diamond Dog.

"Well, haaaaaalf of him seemed to be, aaaaaaanywaaaaaaaay," said the goat head. "At least, thaaaaaat's what we gaaaaaaathered from talking to him."

"But the fact remains that Nightmare Moon's magic might've worked too well on her faithful pet," said the lion head. "It's unclear how, but he had plans to overthrow her once she defeated her sister. Or so the legend goes."

"However, hisssssss plansssssss would not come to fruition," said the serpent head. "Assssss you are aware, the Elementssssss of Harmony were usssssssed to banish Nightmare Moon for a millennia. And jusssssst assssssssssssss Nightmare Moon wassssss banished, sssssssso too was Orthrusssssss."

"And thus, he became the first prisoner of Tartarus. But certainly not the last," said the lion head.

"Um, yeah. Good story," said the Boss. "But what does that have to do with us?"

"Oh, right. Nearly forgot about that," said the lion head. "See, from what we heard, you Diamond Dogs are the best diggers in all of Equestria. So, we need you for a slight favor."

"A favor? What favor?"

"We would like you to break Orthrus out of Tartarus."

The Diamond Dogs all recoiled in shock. "Break a monster out of Tartarus?! After everything you just told us about him?! You're crazy!"

"No, you're thinking of our cousssssssin Dissssssscord," said the serpent head.

"Think of it, Diamond Dogs," said the lion head, placing a paw around the Boss. "With Orthrus's help, the world of ponies would bow to us. That's why you kidnapped this little unicorn, isn't it?"

"How did you know that?!" snapped the pug. "And, actually, it was just this one whiny pony who's better at hunting jewels than we are."

"Well, as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend," said the lion head. "Besides which, you hear a lot of stories when you've been locked up for five hundred years. So, do we have a deal?"

The three chief Diamond Dogs huddled together to discuss their options. Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, just stood there, paralyzed with fear. This wasn't simply a revenge plot anymore, though revenge seemed to be a major theme. But now instead of just her own safety and her sister's freedom, the entire fate of Equestria was hanging in the balance. She didn't care what the Chimera said, it was indeed out of its mind.

After a few moments, the Diamond Dogs reached an agreement.

"We have decided to take you up on your generous offer," said the Boss. "But, we require payment up front. And we ask that this unicorn's sister is guaranteed to be our slave when all is said and done."

"Thissssss is accccccceptable," said the serpent head. The head then coughed a few times before hacking up three beautiful fire rubies.

"Courtesy of Orthrus himself," said the lion head. "We can always get more if that's not enough."

"Oh, it's plenty," said the pug, his eyes sparkling. "But, how...?"

"We didn't break out of Taaaaartaaaaaaarus by being nitwiiiits," said the goat head. "We knew you'd waaaaaant something for your trouble."

"Well, look like you don't need me after all," said Sweetie Belle. "Guess I'll be going then!"

"On the contrary, little filly," said the serpent head, whipping itself in front of Sweetie Belle and blocking her escape. "We have ssssssssome exsssssstra ssssssssspecial plansssssssss for you."

Sweetie Belle gulped as she was scooped up by the Diamond Dogs again.

"Now, take all of the men you can spare and follow us," ordered the lion head. As they all started marching into the caves, Sweetie Belle began chanting to herself again.

"This isn't real. This isn't real..."

Author's Note:

Yes, I know that this story of Orthrus is vastly different from the one in Greco-Roman mythology, but in the context of Equestrian lore, this story makes more sense. And, if I do say so myself, is 20% cooler.

Comments

[jim150454]

20% cooler indeed. I can't wait to see how this plays out

Will Sweetie Belle have a fighting role in this story? Or would you be spoiling the story if you told me?

[Metool Bard]

1914711 Yeah, I probably would be spoiling things if I revealed that. You'll just have to wait to find out.

[canius]

noo this int real

i cnt wait for more chapters

[OmniFox]

That explains why Cerberus escaped in the first place he was searching for the Chimera.

[Shadowshame]

Ehh many things that MLP takes from the Greek mythos and other mythologies tend to be completely different from what they originally were after all a tatzelwurm is a monster that is part snake and part large cat and Cerberus guarded the Greek after life which while it was called the underworld it was basically both heaven and hell because the people who deserved it got to live in comfort while the people who didn't deserve pleasure got fire and brimstone oh and the bunyip is from aboriginal mythology/ dream time and they were amphibious predators that while they were sometimes described as having dog like heads as the tricorned (which the thing in the episode had tusks not horns)bunyip had they were also described as having a body like a star fish and were said to be mostly found in lakes and I've been to one of the lakes that the aboriginals of the area believed to have a bunyip in it and it was called lake Tali khan the show changes a lot of things from what they were in their original mythos so you can be forgiven for this