Ponies in Tartarus

by ff0000

PiT 10: Time

Applejack stepped towards the river guardian blocking their way, her eyes angled down in anger. “Wait a cotton picking minute here. What do you mean we’re the bad girls?”

“Aren’t you?” Cool Cestus still held her head sideways. Her eyes had gone back to their normal half closed nature. “You are just breaking and entering into an important established institution with the sole intent being based on personal reasons. Have you even considered any ramifications?”

“What are you going on about?” Applejack said. “We’re just here to save our friend.”

“Ponies and others die, all the time.” Cool Cestus stood up onto her hind legs only and closed her eyes. Her left foreleg extended outwards. “Life is born, and they go through their course.” The right foreleg extended. “At the end, life ends. Sometimes, it ends before we are ready. It may be sad, but that too is part of being alive. Everypony must face death and move on.”

She brought her forelegs together. “That is the cycle ordained for as long as I have known. It was made by beings far smarter and more powerful that you, or I or even the princess. Our world requires this cycle to work, just as it requires the weather, the fertile soil and the capacity for organization.

“You ponies are being selfish, trying to play with life and death, trying to play with the way things are, just for the sake of one pony.” The guardian finally went back to standing on all fours. “You should leave and properly mourn your dear friend. Struggling here in futility will only drive you further into despair. Even the Dod can not return the dead to life.”

“Dragon,” Applejack corrected. “Spike is a dragon. And he’s not dead. I thought I told you he was only mostly dead. It’s your fault he’s in this condition!” Her words were peppered with fiery anger. “It was a gem from Lot D that sucked out Spike’s life force. Show her, Twilight.”

It took a moment for Twilight to recover from shock of seeing Applejack so upset. She shook her head into a recovery. “This, this is what drained his life force.” Twilight tossed the Gem of the Dead from her saddlebags onto the ground. Part of the gem’s glow peeked out from the black cloth wrapped around it.

“This?” Cool Cestus directly picked the gem up without any signs of worry. “This is one of the Royal Gems given out by the princess for extraordinary contributions. It’s not dangerous at all.”

“It is dangerous. Look.” Twilight floated a book out from her saddlebags. The pages flipped themselves to information on the Gem of the Dead as known by Equestria. She held it in place for the guardian to read.

“This isn’t right,” Cool Cestus said in a mild surprised tone. Her eyes lazily drifted across the page. “That shouldn’t be the effect of the jewel. It’s perfectly harmless.”

“Maybe to the residents of Subterrania.” Twilight snapped the book closed. It drifted back inside the saddlebags. “To us though, it’s very dangerous.”

“Then that is a bad miscalculation. I shall have to tell Princess Terranea about this. Draining life is certainly not intended. I wonder how one of our royal jewels got out of Subterrania in the first place?” Cool Cestus stowed the gem away in her sash.

Applejack raised her hat. “Now that you understand, will you let us pass?”

“I still can not,” Cool Cestus said. “It is an unfortunate accident, but accidents happen.”

“That’s it, I’ve heard enough.” Applejack charged forward, completely ignoring the guardian.

“Applejack?” Twilight gasped. “After her!” The Equestrian ponies, Ferry merry and Cerberus all followed.

Cool Cestus looked left and right as everypony ran past her. “Uh, please do not continue on.” She let out a long sigh. It would look bad if she just let them run past her like this. Shaking her head a bit, she followed them.

“Wait up, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash called out. “What’s the matter with you? Slow down.”

Applejack did so, until she came to a complete stop. Her head was hung low and her eyes were closed. “Sorry, y’all.”

“What’s wrong, Applejack?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes, did we really need that sudden burst of exercise?” Rarity said.

Applejack looked up at the others, still with a sad expression. Her ears were drooping against her head. “I didn’t want to listen to that guardian yammer on anymore. We’re not stopping right, y’all?”

“Of course not,” the fancy unicorn said. “We’re not going to let somepony just talk us out of continuing on. We’ve made it this far haven’t we?”

“Yeah. I have no intention of stopping,” Twilight agreed. “Spike isn’t meant to be dead. We’ll take him back home.”

The sound of hooves hitting against stone came up from behind the group. Looking like she had just ran a marathon, Cool Cestus slowed to a walk when the group got near.

“Wait.” She took a deep breath. “Running really isn’t my thing. Wait.” After a few more pained breaths, Cool Cestus conitnued. “I won’t try to stop you. I can see you’re all determined to continue on.”

“If you were just going to say that, you didn’t need to run after us,” Rainbow Dash said.

The guardian held up a hoof, requesting a moment while she gathered her energy. After several calming breaths, she said, “I will let you go, but be warned, Spike may not want to return.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked.

“Was he a good dragon?”

“He was the best dragon.”

“Then he will likely be granted a place in the Elysion Fields. It is a land of comfort and ease. Will he really want to return to the living world and leave that behind?”

“Of course,” Applejack said firmly. “We’re his friends. Being comfortable means nothing if you have no friends.”

“He could make new friends.”

The farm pony shot a heated glare at the guardian of the river. “Stop trying to talk us out of it.”

“Alright, alright. Getting physical really isn’t my thing.” Cool Cestus backed off. “Just promise me that you won’t go anywhere else. The next river is straight ahead. Don’t go off to the side paths.”

“Yeah, fine. We promise,” Applejack responded impatiently.

“And one more thing, since you girls are moving on, mind taking this to the princess for me? It would save me a trip.” Cool Cestus drew out the Royal Gem and the cloth that it had been wrapped in.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine. Give it here.” She opened the saddlebags for Cool Cestus. “We’re going now.”

“Okay. Cerberus please keep them safe. I’ll return to meditating.”

Cerberus stood at attention with two pairs of serious eyes. The left of the heads still had a glazed over look with drool coming out the side of its mouth. It took a headbutt from the center one to get all of them on the same page.

Meditating, for Cool Cestus, meant lying on the cool stone path, listening to the babbling water in the River of Wailing. Her eyes were closed as she breathed in a slow rhythm.

The other ponies continued on. With Cerberus guarding over them, each head aimed in a different direction, none of the denizens of the abyss dared to even show themselves.

A constant sense of malice filled the wide open space. The air pricked and prodded at the travellers down the river. It caused their tails to go stiff and chills to shiver down their back. The ponies look around with shifty eyes only to see nothing.

Up ahead, a round platform broke up the long, straight river. It was made out of smooth, grey stone embedded with dazzling specks of jewels. A beam of light shone down from the surface, refracting off the stone and created a chorus of sparkles through the entire area. In the middle was a circular pool, with a golden edge, where the river flowed through. Two paths led off to the sides, with a gate floating over the abyss at the end of this.

“What is this marvelous place?” Rarity asked. She was ogling at the solid gold benches placed with a good view into the pool. “Oh my!” Her sparkle filled gaze travelled from the bench to the pool. At the very bottom was an artwork of a ruby tiara, made out of actual rubies gemstones. The surrounding sapphires and diamonds helped the red pop from the bottom.

“This is the crossroads,” Ferry Merry said. “It is a safe place. The monsters of Tartarus won’t try to enter here.”

“Oh yeah,” Twilight said. She turned around, straining her ear. “I don’t hear any wailing.”

“Perhaps we can take a break then?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.

“I suppose. This place is pretty relaxing.”

Looking forward, there was still a lot of river to cover. Looking back, the exit had long since shrank into nothingness. The ponies decided to rest under the solitary beam of light. The warming rays soothed their tense muscles.

Fluttershy and Ferry Merry were playing with Cerberus, petting him for being a good boy and all that. Pinkie Pie randomly bounced around the area. Her hooves fluttered every time they were off the ground. Rarity had taken to staring at the water. She almost looked like she was trying to seduce the gems out, with the way she pouted and batted her eyes.

Only Applejack was fidgeting around restlessly. The sounds of her firm steps against the stone were like bombs going off in the silent plaza. Finally, she came to a stop in front of one of the side paths.

Up ahead was a huge wooden gate set at the edge off a lone natural island floating in the void. The flat isle was just large enough to comfortably house the gate and a small procession of ponies. The gate was set into a simple stone frame, carved from matte, dark blue rocks.

Sensing something was wrong, Rarity had walked over. “What’s the matter, Applejack?”

“It’s, uh, I don’t want to talk about it.” Applejack nodded her head towards the gate. “What’s that over there?”

Ferry Merry came over, riding on one of Cerberus’s heads. She peeked out from behind his ears. “That’s the gate to the Asphodel Meadows. It’s where all of the average ponies and other animals go.

“And over there.” The filly tugged on Cerberus ear. The three headed dog jumped in the air and spun around one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. “Over there, that’s the gate to the Elysion Fields.”

“The Elysion Fields!” Applejack raced over to the other side, where the path lead over to another floating island.

This one was much nicer. It was ponymade with expertly cut stone. Gold and silver was embedded into the tiled floor. The arch to the fine rosewood gate was two massive pony statues. They were rearing up, with front hooves meeting each other to form the shape of the doorway. Both ponies were equipped with elegant gold and silver armor.

“Applejack, what’s with you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy looked to the ground. Her long mane blocked half of her face. “You’ve been acting strangely. But of course I could be wrong. Yeah, I’m probably wrong, never mind.”

“No, Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “Applejack is definitely acting strange.”

Applejack turned around to see everypony and everyCerberus looking at her. She backed away a bit with a nervous chuckle. Her hind legs stepped onto the connecting bridge between the main path and the gateway to the Elysion Fields.

She sweated under the pressure of her friends eyes. Their gaze made her feel transparent. Applejack crossed her front legs and crouched forward.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash commanded.

“Wait, wait,” Applejack said. She peeked up past the brim of her hat. “It’s my parents.”

“You’re parents?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah. They’re both,” Applejack let out a long breath that deflated all of her bravado, “dead.”

No one else said anything. Even though Applejack had never said anything before, they had always figured something like that happened to her parents.

Applejack turned to face the shining gates. “Being here made me think about how much I miss them. I never got to spend enough time with them. I mean, don’t get my wrong, Granny Smith is great but-”

“She isn’t your parents,” Twilight finished.

“Yep. I wonder if they regret not being able to spend time with me, Big McIntosh and Apple bloom?”

“I’m sure they do.”

“But it sure would be nice to see them again.” Applejack stared at the gates.

“Um, well,” Fluttershy pipped, “didn’t we tell Cool Cestus we wouldn’t go off the main path?”

“Yeah, we did, didn’t we?”

Rarity sauntered forward and said, in a confident voice, “Who cares? You’re obviously bothered by this, Applejack. If you don’t do it now, you’ll be wondering for the rest of your life.” She turned to the under pony filly. “Ferry dear, it’s alright to take a closer look at the gate, isn’t it?”

“I guess?” Ferry said with a tilted head. “The gates to the Elysion Fields are a mystery hidden in the light. They are there for all to see but none to know.”

“Meaning?”

“I have no idea what happens if someone goes beyond the gates.” Ferry shrugged. “I remember being told by my sister, ‘Don’t think about it too much.’ I guess it would be alright though?” Her voice became overly high toned at the question.

Cerberus whimpered as he lain down on the ground. His paws were pressed down on the side heads.

Ferry Merry patted the center head. “You can wait here, Cerberus.”

“I’ll, uh, wait here too,” Fluttershy said. Her eyes had gone wide when she saw just how precarious the walkway leading to the island was. While the path wasn’t narrow, it had a complete lack of guardrails. Anypony could easily slip off and fall into the darkness below.

As everypony else stepped onto the island, they felt a sense of calmness. The overbearing darkness all around didn’t feel that bad anymore.

Applejack placed a forlorn hoof on the gates but didn’t push on it. It was probably impossible for her to move the towering doors anyway.

“Ooh, let’s give it a go,” Pinkie Pie said.

Taking a bouncing start, she rammed into the door. Completely silent, the thick wooden door swung open. It was just a crack when compared to how wide it could really open, but just a crack was enough for a pony to fit through.

Ferry Merry let you a yelp as she turned around, refusing to face the opened door. Everypony followed suit with a combination of turning around and using their hooves, everypony except for Applejack. She remained staring at the gates without any ill effects.

“That scared me Pinkie!” Twilight said.

“Woopsie.” Pinkie shrugged, hiding behind an innocent smile.

Turning back towards the opened gate, Rarity asked, “Why did we all turn away?”

“I have no idea,” Ferry Merry admitted. “I thought our souls would get sucked out or something. The white light would beckon us away.”

Seeing as how that hadn’t happened, everypony cautiously went back to the massive gates. They peered inside, only to see white. It was somehow as disturbing as the abyss of black around them. Beyond the gates were the nothingness of white. Applejack was standing there, entranced by the entrance.

Twilight placed a hoof on her good friend’s back. “Applejack, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I think I want to be alone for a while.”

“Are you sure? Who knows when more monsters will attack.”

“Naw, no monsters will attack in this area,” Ferry Merry said.

Twilight shot a glare at the filly. She clearly already knew that.

“Don’t worry girls, I won’t do anything stupid.” Applejack tilted her hat back and looked at the other ponies. “When have you ever known me to do something stupid?”

Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity immediately raised their hooves. Before she could say anything though, Twilight made the motion for them to be quiet.

“I know what y’all are thinking. Don’t worry, I won’t go in. We promised after all, didn’t we?”

A slow nod came from Twilight. “Alright, we’ll go on ahead.” A slew of gasps came from the other Equestrian ponies. “Catch up soon, Applejack.”

“I will. Thank you, Twilight.” Applejack attempted a smile, but her heart wasn’t truly in it.

Rainbow Dash zipped over to Twilight, one eye opened wide with an appraising stare. “Are you sure about this, Twilight?”

The other unicorn was the one that spoke up. “Well, if Applejack says she’ll catch up, I’m sure she won’t let us down. Applejack is a most dependable pony after all. We’ll just leave her to do whatever it is she wants to do, shall we?”

“I guess.” There were shouts of uncertainty under Rainbow Dash’s words.

“Oh, oh.” Pinkie bounced up and down. “I could make her do a Pinkie Promise. This time, I’ll add in extra sprinkles!”

“That’s alright, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Come on, girls, lets go.”

They returned to a confused Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash nudged the other pegasus along.

Leaving the little round, the others returned to the overbearing darkness surrounding the lone straight river. Once again, the path seemed to stretch on forever, to the point where they weren’t even sure they were getting anywhere. It was just the same repeating pedestals holding torches over and over again. They were accompanied by anguished wails.

Though they hadn’t even been walking for an hour, the long slogging repetition made it feel like nearly a full day. Everyone saw it at once, a speck of white in the distance. As they continued forward, their spirits lifted. It was finally the exit to the River of Wailing. Even Cerberus was happy for some reason. There was an odd shadow waiting in front of the exit.

As they got close, another creature’s voice spread over the area. It was not a wail but a laugh. “Oh hohoho.”

Resting on the other side of the river was a strange creature. It had the body of a lion, keen orange fur and all with the head of a mare pony. Golden eagle wings sprouted from the creature’s back. She wore a stylish headdress and exquisite golden jewelry was all over her body.

“Look what have we here.” The creature managed to jump from one side of the river to the other. She landed right in front of the ponies. Her full size matched that of Cerberus.

The guard dog bound forward, all three heads growling.

Why did such a creature have to block their way now? The exit tunnel, a very plain looking passageway, was right behind her.

The pony headed lion lazily waved a paw. “Calm down, Cerberus. I’m not a denizen of Tartarus, nor am I not allowed to be here. You can’t hurt me without going against the rules.”

One of Cerberus’ heads let out a whimper, showing that the statement was true.

Twilight looked down at their guide. “What is that?”

“It’s a sphinx,” the young river guide replied. “If that lazy pony, Cool, was here, she could just order the sphinx away. Without her though, we’ll need to play the sphinx’s game.”

“Game?”

“That’s riiiiiight!” the sphinx sang. “Do you want to go one at a time or have it be all or nothing?”

“What’s the game?” Twilight asked suspiciously.

“A riddle. If you answer, I’ll let you pass. If you can’t, you’re my dinner.” The sphinx grinned, showing off carnivorous teeth.

“How about we just go around you?” Rainbow Dash said.

The sphinx raised a paw. With a flicker, pony ripping claws appeared. “Care to try?”

Twilight went in close to the boisterous pegasus and whispered, “Can you get us around her?”

Rainbow Dash gave a test flap of her wings. The motion weren’t quite so smooth or fast as normal. With gritted teeth, she admitted, “I don’t think so.”

“We’ll keep that as our backup plan then.” Turning to the sphinx, Twilight said, “We’ll do the riddle. One riddle for the entire group.”

“Very well.” The sphinx gave a satisfied purr. “Easier for me.

“Now, I will only say this once. I am always right with you. I am never without you. It is impossible to get rid of me, for I will follow you to the end. I know all and hide all. Listen well and and all will be revealed.”

“You didn’t specify a time limit. We can take as long as we want,” Twilight said.

“Fine, but you can’t leave or that counts as failing the riddle. Tasty ponies are something worth waiting for.”

Twilight gathered the others around. “Alright. So, girls, any thoughts? And Pinkie, no randomly guessing. In fact, don’t say anything to the sphinx. I’ll be the one to give the answer.”

“You got it, Twilight.” Pinkie zipped up her mouth to show how serious she was, along with becoming useless for brainstorming.

Back at the gate to the Elysion Fields, Applejack had remained standing there. “Mom, dad,” she said to the gap, “Y’all probably can’t hear me. I have so much I want to tell you. I met a lot of good friends, you know? I reckon they’re the best friends a pony could ask for. And I’ve had so many stories that I want to tell you guys.”

She lowered her head sadly. “It’s so unfair how we never had enough time together. Do you feel the same way?

“I’m doing fine though. Don’t you worry about me. Granny Smith, Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom are handling the orchards just fine.”

Applejack pressed a hoof against the door. She wanted to go through so badly, to see her parents again. All of the pain she had experienced from losing her parents, those feelings returned when Spike was taken away. Now that she was here, perhaps she could have all three of them back.

She vigorously shook her head. No, she couldn’t go through. Not only did Applejack promise the guardian of the river, she also promised her friends. It was just as Cool Cestus said, loss was a part of life. Her parents were gone, but she thought about them every day. Going through the gates wouldn’t change anything. Spike could still saved however. No way Applejack was about to give up on him.

Looking up, she saw the two massive pony statues that held the gates together. “I’ll be leaving now. Sorry for messing with your gate and all. Er, I’m just going to leave it open since I really can’t see a way to close it.” Applejack tipped her hat to the statues.

She turned around and immediately let out a surprised yelp.

“I see you decided not to enter,” Cool Cestus said.

“How long were you there?”

“Since your friends left.”

Applejack glowered at the guardian. “Spying isn’t nice you know.”

“I watch over the River of Wailing.” Cool Cestus raised a hoof towards the gate. There was a beeping noise from her hind legs stepping on the remote control for the gate. Slowly, it slid closed again. “This is part of the river as well.”

The under pony took the raised hoof and moved it to Applejack’s chest. “You’re parent’s may be gone, but everyone we interact with transfers a bit of themselves into us. And we transfer a bit of ourselves into them. All of our bonds and connections are stored right here.” Cool Cestus tapped the other pony, right over the heart.

“I know that,” an annoyed Applejack said. “Because of what you said, I accept that ma and pa gone. That is the way of the world, but they are still with me, right here.” She raised a hoof to her chest.

“It is good that you have realized. No one that goes through the gates ever comes back. Not even I know what’s through them.”

“Hang on. If I had tried to go through, would you have stopped me?”

Cool Cestus shrugged.

“No, seriously.”

“You’re pretty strong. Physical activity isn’t my thing,” the guardian said dully.

“Good, since I’m going to go on. I know the importance of life and death, however if there is still a chance to save my friend, I’m going to do it. If I don’t even try, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“Yeah,” the guardian sighed. “I figured as much. You’re friends are waiting for you.”

Applejack looked down the river. “I’d better get going then. Sorry, girls, I’m on my way. Looks like my ride’s here.”

Cerberus had came bounding back down walkway on the side of the river. He let out three happy barks upon seeing the two ponies.

“Thanks for coming to get me.” Applejack scratched the center head behind the ears after hopping on top of his head. “Now giddy up little doggie. My friends are waiting for me.”

“Wait for me!” Cool Cestus managed to barely hang on to the guardian hound’s back.

When they reached the exit, they found everypony else still there, gathered in a circle. Blocking them was the sphinx, who had taken to licking herself while waiting for a response.

“Applejack!” her friends happily exclaimed.

“Howdy, y’all. Sorry to be a bother.”

“Not at all, Applejack,” Rarity said. “You look a lot more like the old Applejack we know and love.”

“Aw shucks.”

Ferry Merry came rushing over. “Cool! Get this sphinx out of the way!”

“Er.” Cool Cestus looked to the side. “Talking to sphinxes really isn’t my thing. What is the riddle?”

Twilight had memorized it verbatim and easily repeated it. “I am always right with you. I am never without you. It is impossible to get rid of me, for I will follow you to the end. I know all and hide all. Listen well and and all will be revealed.”

“This is driving me crazy,” Rainbow Dash said with hooves scratching at her mane. “Especially Twilight. Whatever she says just makes me more confused. Now that all six of us are here, let’s just bust through.”

Cool Cestus slowly shook her head. “I think Applejack knows where the answer is, don’t you?”

After thinking for a while and looking at random directions, Applejack nodded. The answer was right where everything else was. Cool as a cucumber, she walked up to the sphinx. “Heart. The answer is the heart.”

“Wait, you’re not part of the group. Your answer doesn’t count!” the frazzled sphinx said.

“Is it one riddle for the entire group?” the river guardian asked. “I can confirm that this pony is a part of their group.”

The sphinx lost her haughty demeanor and looked deflated. “Fine. That’s correct,” she sighed. “You all may pass.” She jumped back to the other side, landing softly with the aid of her wings.

“Great. We are now one step closer to rescuing Spike,” Applejack said.

“Maybe it would have been kinder to stop you,” Cool Cestus said. She had a forlorn gaze aimed at the exit tunnel.

“What do you mean?”

“The next river, well, I hope you all make it through intact. Good luck ponies of Equestria. I’m going to go back to my,” she let out a drawn out yawn, “meditation.”