Ponies in Tartarus

by ff0000

PiT 9: Tartarus

“Your majesty,” a skull masked stallion said in a raspy voice. A worn out pirates hat covered his mane.

“Yes?” the regal figure sitting atop a golden throne said.

“Arrgh, I have brought you Spike.” He stepped aside, revealing a young purple dragon with green spines. The dragon had much more muted colors and was partially transparent.

“Thank you, Higgs Boatswain.”

“I will take my leave now.”

“Don’t you want to stay?” one of the many guards in the area asked. “The living ponies are doing good.”

A lot of under ponies were gathered around the ornate stone basin in front of the princess. They had been watching as the Equestrian ponies went through the Rivers of Pain and Fire. Quite a few bowls of popcorn were spread out between them. Within the rippling waters, the six ponies and Ferry Merry were now safely on stable ground.

“Nay, I have business-like business to attend to. Ye ponies enjoy yeselves now,” Higgs Boatswain said as he swished away. A mangled tail swept along the ground.

The princess glared down at her royal guards. Her mouth neither smiling nor frowning, but it was in a straight line. “Aren’t you taking things a bit too easy?”

“Uh,” one of the guards mumbled, “po-popcorn, your majesty?” He pushed over a half eaten bowl of the popped kernels, glistening with butter.

“No,” Princess Terranea said. She turned towards the small dragon. “Sir Spike, please come here.”

The young dragon had his claws clutched together tightly as he stepped forward. “Y-y-y-yes, your majesty?”

“Be at ease, Sir Spike. You are a guest here. Is there anything we can get for you?” All while she was speaking, Princess Terranea kept her narrow red eyes trained on the dragon. The stare was without a hint of mirth at all.

“W-well, since you asked,” Spike said. He held up a hopeful finger. “I do like gems.”

“Attendant, bring Sir Spike some gems.” The princess had not looked away from Spike. “Would you care to stay for a while?”

“Of course!” Spike said. His head was filled with drool inducing gems.

---

After the ordeal in the River of Fire, Ferry’s little boat had been snapped in two. Jagged splinters were threatened to prick any ponies trying to touch the boat. The six had been freed from the cage by the fireflies and brought to the start of the next river, the River of Wailing.

The River of Wailing was more of a natural made channel, suspended over a deep, black abyss. A cobblestone passageway lined both sides of the dark blue water. Small gemstones sparkled from the stone. The jewels along the riverbed gave the stream a mystical, shimmering quality.

Pedestals along the side held large, burning braziers. The flame did nothing to fight back the seemingly infinite amount of darkness on all sides. This river may very be hanging in an empty void.

The ponies were all huddled together, taking a break. Many of them were lying on the ground with head resting on their hoof. Twilight was still on her hooves. She strained her eyes, trying to see if anything was out there. The veil of darkness was too strong for her to pierce.

“Sorry about your boat, Ferry,” Fluttershy said.

The filly looked backwards, at the River of Fire where her boat still lain. She didn’t sound upset at all. “Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. My sister knows a stallion. I’ll get it fixed up in no time. But we can’t use it for this trip.”

“Why not?” Rarity asked. “Weren’t there several other,” she hesitated to call those old, worn out things boats, “makeshift flotation crafts broken in half as well. They still worked.”

“Yeah, but they had to be refurbished. It’s not something we can just do. We need the right tools and stuff.”

A low wailing rattled through the air. The noise was deep and guttural. It lingered in the air, resonating into the the ponies. Even covering their ears didn’t help. The noise seemed to push away any feelings of happiness and warmth.

“Is it another singer making that horrible noise?” Rarity asked.

Ferry Merry was shivering badly. “No,” she whispered. “I don’t like this place. This is the River of Wailing. The darkness seems to go on forever, swallowing any hope of returning. A lone trail leads to the other side for those brave enough to walk it. The sounds are horrible monsters, trapped within the pits of Tartarus.”

“Tartarus,” Twilight gasped. “I see.” She stared down into the endless abyss. That was where all of the ancient monsters that used to roam the land were kept. “The entire area below us is Tartarus, so watch your step.”

“Well what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash said. “Standing around here isn’t going to do us any good.”

“Are you sure you’re alright to move?” Fluttershy asked.

“My legs are still at full power.” Rainbow Dash looked away from the others. Her wings weren’t at their usual position against her body. They drooped, and the edge most feathers dusted the ground. “I won’t be able to fly for a while though.”

“You did great though,” Pinkie Pie chirped. “Absolutely fantastic.”

“If you’re sure, Rainbow Dash, let’s go.” Twilight gave the other ponies a nod.

The group trotted forward along the cold side path. They seemed to be the only ponies on the lonely road. There wasn’t much to see, but monstrous cries caused shivers among the group. They were cries of anger, screeches of torment and howls of revenge. Ferry Merry was sticking to the underside of Fluttershy’s wing.

Pinkie Pie was standing at the ledge, waving. A great toothy smile was on her face.

“Pinkie,” Ferry Merry said, “Don’t encourage the monsters.”

“But look, they’re waving back.” Pinkie waved with both forelegs.

“What?” Ferry yelped.

Everypony looked over the ledge. Reaching out from the darkness were long, green skinned arms. There must have been tens of them coming from the void. The fingers twisted and spread open, trying to grab the most they could. They were emaciated, with wrinkled skin hanging on to bones. Each arm had a multitude of joints, allowing them to twist and entwine with each other as they reached out. The owners of the arm remained hidden away, far down below.

“It’s a hecatonchires!” Ferry backed so far away from the ledge, she nearly fell into the River of Wailing.

Twilight’s expression revealed that she knew about the seriousness of the situation. She grabbed Pinkie back by the tail. Waving to everyone, she said. “Come on, everypony, run!”

Fluttershy picked up their young guide by the scruff.

They hurried down the trail, manes flapping in the air. Fear of getting grabbed by monstrously limber hands the breathed new life into six. The first arms had grabbed onto the side of the floating channel. Using that as a support, the arms started coming up more rapidly. No matter how fast the ponies ran, most arms appeared in front.

“What’s a hecawhatever?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, that!” Twilight pointed her horn towards the arms sprouting up in front of them. “The hundred armed giants.”

“Ooh.” Without needing to focus on the running, Ferry Merry was punching the air with an angry look on her face. “What is that lazy bum doing? She should be keeping the inhabitants of Tartarus in check.”

Even running at full power, the ponies couldn’t fight off the fatigue from the previous river. Their muscles strongly protested with every step. The arms were coming down on the channel faster than they were moving forward. Twilight looked up in horror as several hands were reaching down towards them.

She gritted her teeth. Her horn glowed with magical energy, but the magic was flickering. Squinting her eyes, Twilight tried even harder. In a dull flash, her horn had turned into a dud.

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What ARE we going to do?” Rarity shrieked.

Answering her was not any of the ponies, but three feral howls. They were in unison, amplifying each others effectiveness. A sense of rage washed over the area, causing everypony to stumble in their step. The hecatonchires’ arms twitched and stopped their assault. Something prowled down the channel with eyes shooting daggers at the grasping hands.

It was a large, black dog with an extremely bulky front body. Massive paws smashed into the stone path with each step. Its body tapered off into being much smaller in the back. This dog had not one but three pug like heads. Each one snarled with sharp teeth bared. A spiked collar was around each head.

The hound arched upward, letting out another river shaking howl.

The arms of the hecatonchires started to retreat into the darkness. They released their grip from the river channel. A horrible screech sounded through the area as the nails scratched along the stone surface. The noise extended out towards the void.

Once the threat had passed, the faces of the dog dropped their fierce nature and became much more friendly. There was almost a dopy quality to them.

“Cerberus!” Fluttershy said in a dull but happy tone. “You really scared me.”

The giant, three headed dog came bounding over. Despite the massive size different, he was able to playfully lick Fluttershy in the face, sending her pink mane straight up. Each head took a turn.

“Whoa,” Ferry said with a wide open mouth. “You know Cerberus, Fluttershy?”

“Yes. We met a while ago.” Fluttershy was hovering in the air, petting his heads.

Applejack nudged the lavender unicorn in the shoulders. “Twilight here was the one that brought him back after his little trip to Equestria.”

“I remember hearing about that. So you were the one that brought him back.” She was looking up at Twilight with newfound admiration in her eyes.

The unicorn looked away, embarrassed. “Well, it wasn’t really hard. Cerberus is really friendly.”

“He is,” Fluttershy cooed.

“This is great. With Cerberus, no creature of Tartarus will dare get in our way,” Rainbow Dash said with an added hoof pump.

“All this noise is getting in the way of my meditation,” a voice said slowly. Walking forward in an equally slow manner was a white under pony.

Ferry Merry rushed forward and headbutted the chest of the other pony. “Cool, you idiot, where were you when a hecatonchires was attacking?”

The mare staggered back a few steps from the impact. “Don’t be that way, Ferry Merry. Dealing with the hecatonchires isn’t really my thing. It’s why I have Cerberus helping me out after all.” The white under pony gave an innocent smile that turned her eyes into arches.

“Who’s that?” Applejack asked suspiciously.

“This is the guardian of the River of Wailing, Cool Cestus. She’s as lazy of a guardian as I have ever seen.”

“Come on, I only prefer to talk things out instead of taking action,” Cool Cestus droned. “It’s not like anything bad happened. I would have stepped in if things were really getting out of hand. No? Okay. Nevermind.”

“What’s a hand?” Rainbow Dash whispered to the others.

Her mane was braided and then turned into a twin buns, so it looked like flowers were on either side of her head. Her tail was styled similarly, only it was one large flower instead. Her pattern was an antique rug, full of vibrant colors and square shapes. Adorning her flank was a pink lotus. A purple silk sash tightly wrapped around her waist.

She looked over the Equestrian ponies with her droopy eyes. “I remember now. Cerberus went on a trip a while back, and somepony brought him back. It was a unicorn with a stripe in her hair. It’s quite a surprise to see you in pony now.” Cool Cestus didn’t sound too surprised.

“Yeah, I did bring him back,” Twilight said with a tinge of pink on her cheeks. “He really wasn’t much trouble at all.” She rubbed mane with a hoof.

“Thank you. You saved me the trouble of going out and looking for him. Still, I should not just let you pass. It’s not right.” The guardian turned towards Cerberus. “Can I convince you to chase them out?”

All three of his heads whined and stared down at the white under pony with puppy eyes.

Rainbow Dash extended a hoof towards the giant dog’s leg. “That’s right, Cerberus is our friend.”

“Aww, Cerberus. You act so fierce around the prisoners of Tartarus, but around ponies, you are such a puppy.”

“Yes. He’s such a good doggy,” Fluttershy said.

Cool Cestus walked closer to the Equestrian ponies. Her purple sash dragged along the ground. She gave them a bright smile. “Can I convince you girls to leave then? I will even provide you with complimentary Dod coasters!”

Twilight put her hoof down. “We’re not leaving. All of you guardians should just stop trying.”

“Why are you so insistent on being here? Living creatures really have no business in Lot D.”

“Here’s the short version,” Applejack said. “Our good friend, Spike, got mostly killed. But he’s not all dead, so we’re here to get his soul back. Simple.”

Cool Cestus looked sadly at the ponies. “That, that is selfish. Doesn’t that mean you are the bad girls here?” She tilted her head to the side with both eyes opened wide.