Ponies in Tartarus

by ff0000

Side PiT 13: Tow

Arche Rune, guardian of the River of Pain, stood on the end of dingy docks. The wooden pier was worn out with warped planks. Many wooden patches had been nailed in, fixing holes and cracks.

The guardian was pale blue under pony, with mane and tail of stormy seas. Her mane was different length side tails, with one side being much longer than the other. Her tail was much the same way. Half of it was trimmed short while the other half was left uncut. On her flank was the image of a stone archway, with runes inscribed on the side.

A dark river rushed down a long tunnel. Its torrential roar was magnified as it travelled the enclosed space. Signs of life, or maybe it unlife, could be seen swimming in the river. Their forms of bones, scales or spikes occasionally rose above the surface of the water. None of the local aquatic life seemed bothered by the currents at all. They easily stayed in place or even swam against it.

Arche Rune wasn’t doing anything in particular. Another shipment of souls wasn’t due for a while. Technically, she didn’t need to be at the river at all during the downtimes, but having the boss show up from time to time certainly whipped up productivity.

Behind her were the rest of the docks, a grimy yet festive place. All the buildings and boardwalks had been fixed up multiple times, often in the same area. Different shades of the same color were painted everywhere. Water damage persisted through the area and so did barnacles. Ghastly ships that looked more like wrecks than sailable vessels floated gently on the river.

Colorful lights and bright tents were strung up all through the area. The garish glows gave the docks the feel of a carnival or tourist attraction. Every tent had bright signs, lit up with some kind of liquid. They mostly sold food for the staff and workers. A plaza, well lit from stringed lights, was filled with long tables and benches.

Downriver, something was sailing over. Arch Rune looked at the incoming small boat curiously. Nothing was on the schedule that she knew of, and this dock really wasn’t one for much personal traffic. She strode down the boardwalk to get a closer look.

It wasn’t one rowboat coming down the river but two or possibly three. No, it was two. The second boat was just broken in half, and was being towed along. The broken halves managed to stay afloat through their natural buoyancy and lack of ability to hold water. They swayed from side to side, hitting against each other repeatedly.

Sailing in the tugboat were one of the dock workers and the dark orange guardian of the River of Fire, Fleckle Sun. Her long straight mane and tail were white with bones. A spiked collar was around her neck and leather bands were around each hoof. The mark on her flank was that of a purple sound wave.

As Arch Rune examined the broken boat, her eyes widened. Then they angled down in anger and a frown appeared on her face.

“What did you do?” she called out. “What the clouds did you do?”

“Don’t I get a. ‘Hi,’ first?” Fleckle Sun asked.

“Not when you’re dragging my sister’s ship, which for some reason is in two halves.”

“Uh, well.” Fleckle Sun looked back at the two boat pieces. “It’s more like two fifths and three fifths really.”

Arch Rune leapt through the air. Landing on the small tugboat caused a large splash and nearly tilted it over. The dock worker had to quickly balance out the weight by leaning over the side.

The orange under pony fell backwards, landing in a sitting position against the boat. “Whoa, what’s up?”

“What did you do to my sister?” Arch Rune growl, her face almost pressing up against the other guardian’s.

“Nothing, nothing. She’s fine, she’s happy, she’s probably chilling with Cool or something.”

“Then why is her ferry in pieces?”

“Stuff happened. Why are you looking at me like it’s my fault?” Fleckle Sun had both forelegs held up in surrender.

“Because it was fine when she left. See?”

“Hey, I can’t help it if the boat had such shoddy craftsmanship that it can’t withstand a little nudging from the blarrgs.”

Arch Rune narrowed her eyes into pointed daggers. “I built that boat.”

“Oh, er.” Fleckle Sun wiped beads of nervous sweat from her brow. “Oh yeah, I remember that. I was there.” She let out a small chuckle. “It’s really nice work you know. You really sanded that wood hard. What I meant to say is that the boat is old and probably ready to fall apart.”

“I made it last year, when Ferry Merry wanted to become a river guide.”

“Oh, right. Again, I was there. But you made it like it came from two hundred years ago,” Fleckle said. “Why under earth would you purposely make something old and ragged.”

“Well.” Arch Rune finally backed away. She rubbed the side of her head awkwardly. “Ferry Merry really wanted it to look like those ships.” A hoof pointed towards the ghostly galleons parked at the docks. “She thought that’s the way the ships were supposed to look, not knowing that those are refurbished from old wrecks.”

She looked down and let out a dejected sigh. “I spent an entire week making the new ship I made look like it was old and worn.”

Fleckle Sun let out a chuckle and slapped her friend on the back. “This should make Ferry Merry happy then. Now her ship is an actual an old wreck.”

Arch Rune grumbled inaudibly but couldn’t find anything really wrong with that statement.

“Come on, I dragged that piece of fine junky craftsmanship back here to get it fixed. By other ponies of course. I don’t know birds about ship building.”

Fleckle Sun stepped onto dry land. The boat had already been tied up inside one of the many warehouses. It was a dim area with windows boarded up, and lit only by lanterns hanging along the rafters. The lights danced off the waters and onto the walls. Wooden crates were stacked all along one side from the floor to the ceiling. Rails dipping into the water allowed for boats to slide onto land.

It was an easy task for two ponies to drag the broken rowboat parts onto land. Gathering all the needed tools and repair materials didn’t take long either. Fixing the small boat was going to be another matter however. The magic that kept it floating despite looking like it was hundreds of years old had been broken when the hull was.

Arch Rune let out a sigh and scratched her head. At least it was just a small rowboat. Enchanting that should be no problem for one capable of doing such things. She, however, was not capable. A sour look was on her face.

“Are you still upset I broke your sister’s boat?” Fleckle Sun asked. “Come on, I’m sorry. I was just doing my job.”

“I’m still upset that you broke the ship I worked so hard on,” Arch Rune said. Her evil glare briefly flicked over to a set of iron vice grips. Such things were perfect for holding things together, or putting the squeeze on annoying ponies.

Fleckle jumped away, with forelegs held up defensively. “Hey, hey, hey.”

“Relax, firly. I’m not going to hurt you. There are ponies around that could hear.” From the sheet of tools, Arch Rune picked up a hammer and some nails. “The problem is, I have to go to that used ship salesman to get the boat enchanted again. The guy talks smooth and sells tons of other stuff you don’t need. Last time I went there, I was sold some seat warmers, cup holders and an extended warranty that covered basically nothing. He was conveniently away when I went back there.”

Arch Rune’s hammering of planks into the boat was filled frustrations from remembering about last time. The orange guardian was helping by sitting at the side, occasionally handing over another nail or plank.

“Can you work any faster? This is boring,” Fleckle Sun said from her seat atop one of the crates. Her long tail swished back and forth, curving just enough to avoid dusting the dirty floor.

“Hammer,” Arch Rune said.

“You have one already.”

“I’m going to throw the second one at your head.”

Fleckle Sun opened and closed her mouth a few times. After a few moments, she shrugged and hoofed over a second hammer.

With a second hammer, Arch Rune seriously considered going through on her threat. Her hoof tossed the metal headed hammer up and down a few times, feeling its heft. Instead of smacking her friend in the face, she asked, “You say Ferry Merry is hanging out with Cool Cestus now? That means you let those Equestrian firlies through?”

“Yep.”

“What did you think of them?”

“Eeeeh. They are nice,” Fleckle Sun said with a slow thoughtfulness. “I think they’re nice. I didn’t really listen to why they wanted to go through the River of Fire.”

“They want to-”

Fleckle Sun held up her hoof. “I ignored it once, don’t make me ignore it again. I like them though. They’re interesting. A fiery vigor burns within them, pushing them forward. How could I say no to that? Especially after they pretty much made it all the way through the River of Fire.”

“You think they’ll reach the princess?” Arch Rune asked as she hammered more planks to keep the two boat parts together.

A guffaw burst out from the orange guardian. Her body tilted back, almost falling off the crate. “No way they’ll reach the end. Even if Cool and, uh, and what’s-her-name don’t stop them, Sticks definitely will.”

“Yeah. I can’t see them getting past Sticks. I just hope Sticks will go easy on them.”

“Unlikely.” Fleckle Sun gave an offhanded wave. “Sticks is going to grind them up, put them in her cereal, eat them and then spit them out because she just realized that’s cannibalism.”

Arch Rune chuckled. “I can see that happening.” She shook her hoof in warning to the guardian Sticks, despite Sticks not being here. “She had better not even think about hurting my sister though. Now, are you going to help me with this boat or sit there all day?”

“I think I’ll sit here all day. Thanks for the choice,” Fleckle Sun said with a smirk. That was when she had to duck a hammer aimed at her head.