Chapter 64

Celestia brushed her mane as she replaced the golden regalia on her head, the engagement ring standing proudly as she inspected herself in the mirror. She rolled her eyes as Nox irritably groaned as he bounced on the bed

“Mum, hurry up!” Nox wined. “We are gonna be late for dinner with Applebloom!”

“Have you cleaned your teeth?” Celestia rose an eyebrow to the younger alicorn. “How about combing your mane?”

Nox groaned even louder, “Yeah I’ve done them and I even polished my royal clothes because you told me to”

Celestia looked back again as she saw Nox slip his dark regalia over his head, tapping the diamond as he was showing lack of patience. The princess smiled to her reflection as she finished making herself presentable and walked over to the door

“Are you coming?” Celestia smiled as her son bounced over and nodded. “Good, then I will have to make sure that I sort all my paperwork out when we get back”

Nox nodded as he used his magic to open the door, “Alright but can we hurry to go see Applebloom?”

Celestia smiled as she noticed the guards outside smile briefly. “Guards? You may leave your post until the afternoon”

“Thank you your highness!” Both guards saluted until both royals were completely out of view. One guard flinched as he looked at the letters on his back. “I forgot to give her these”

The other guard levitated the stack of various letters and stepped into the princesses’ chambers. “Well we can leave them on her desk, Princess Celestia can look at them when she gets back… they seem to be reports anyway”

The guard flicked through a stack of yellow envelopes and white scrolls. His eyes stopped as he saw a pitch black letter that was sealed with a crimson wax

“That is definitely new,” the guard shrugged to his partner. “Just leave it and let’s get going, I’m sure it is nothing important”

Both guards nodded as they placed the letters onto the desk and closed the bedroom door. The pitch black letter faded away as couldn’t feel the presence of its’ designated recipient

Meanwhile…

Dave shivered as he rested on the floor, his body still covered in scratches that slowly healed after a final few bugs crawled out of him and scurried back up the pipes. Dave looked up and saw the golden key that was in his stomach was now laying a few inches from his head

He reached out and grabbed the key, holding it close to his chest as he sat up and looked around the daunting room. Dave held back the urge to vomit as he saw the room was almost covered in his blood, the prints the beetles made dotted the roof as they lead to one of the pipes

Slowly, Dave stood up to steady himself, the beetles had even dug through his bones and made his legs feel unsteady and weak. He managed to stand up straight, leaning against the wall as he looked around the room

Apart from the red wall that illuminated the room and the two pipes in the ceiling, there was no marks to show any door or hatch of any kind. Dave looked down at his bloodied clothes and decided to remove his shirt, allowing it to fall to the floor

The room felt warm, the wall Dave rested against felt hot but not enough to make him pull away. His attention still shifting between looking for a door and making sure he still held the golden key

Dave attempted to walk to one of the other walls, slipping and falling onto his front as he felt his body fill with pain again. He groaned as he pushed himself to his knees and slipped the key into his pocket

“What the hell?” Dave looked around at the new area he was in, the room he was previously in had disappeared. His new area seemed more daunting. The feeling of isolation came almost immediately as Dave looked down the huge area he was in

The horizon was replaced with huge walls that reached up into a shadowy abyss. The walls were filled with various sized holes that seemed to lead to nowhere as they stretched out of view. The furthest wall from Dave had a smooth circle with a large orange sphere that illuminated the main area Dave was in

Dave pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his legs, shaking them as he began to feel normal again. He turned around as he looked for anything that could help him in some way, not finding anything as he could only see the flat ground that he stood on

“Well this is encouraging,” Dave grumbled as he noticed that every part of the ground was covered in some form of dried blood. His attention was brought upwards as he heard a loud roaring, the body of a Minotaur fell and slammed into the ground

Before Dave could move again, a large, dog-like creature slammed into the Minotaur, instantly knowing and slashing as it tore off parts of the creatures’ body and began to chew on the limbs

What surprised Dave even more was the Minotaur itself, even though most of its head was a mess and spread around the floor, its arm grabbed one of the dogs’ throats and pulled it down to what was left of its mouth

“You can taste next time!” The dog used one of his hind legs to help pull the remaining arm from the Minotaur’s body. His long fangs sunk into the flesh and the body twitched and shook in pain

Dave looked around before staring at the dog, a large mark similar to Dave’s was branded down its’ chest. “89873PA?” Dave muttered as he read the mark

The dog looked up at Dave and dropped the arm it was grazing on. “A new inmate?” he licked his lips as he began to prowl towards Dave. “I bet you taste bitter!”

The dog lunged at Dave, its jaws open and aiming to clasp onto Dave’s neck. But the human side stepped and threw his arm around the dog’s neck, pulling sharply to break the dog’s neck

Dave dropped the body but it instantly hopped away and its front paws began to slowly twist its head back into place. “What the fuck are you?” Dave asked as he took a few precautionary steps away

“I am a diamond dog, named L…, it was too long ago for me to remember now,” The dog’s mouth dripped saliva as he stood straight and readied his claws. “I am designated Inmate 89873PA! You will remember it for it shall be the thing you see every time I pull your eyes out!

“I’m not on the menu,” Dave readied his fists. “And if you need to know, I am Inmate…” Dave looked at his marking, “Inmate 1EC”

89873PA paused, his eyes narrowing before his position became defensive. “1EC? Impossible! Even the swarm is only marked Inmate 2TA and it has always been here!”

“What do the marks mean?” Dave glared

“If I tell you,” The scruffy dog looked ready to flee. “Will you try to taste me?”

Dave shook his head, “I didn’t come here to eat anypony”

“The markings define us,” The diamond dog inched away from Dave. “They are given by the Ledger!”

“That dream…” Dave rubbed his chin as he remembered the logbook that was around when he received his branding. “One last question, where can I find the warden?”

89873PA grabbed one of the Minotaur’s legs as he stepped over the body. “You can’t find the warden, nothing can.” The dog’s eyes looked past Dave before he suddenly scampered away

“Hey where are you going you mutt?” Dave yelled as the other convict ran into one of the tunnels. The human sighed as he scratched his head, his attention brought to the arm that reached past him and picked up a piece of the squashed Minotaur

“I hate creatures that run,” a deep voice groaned. “Makes their meat a bit chewy, and the sweat reduces the taste”

Dave turned and looked up at a haired creature, his chest was covered in a thick black fur and his head had two spiral horns that poked out of his temples. Dave’s head only reached to the top of the creature’s bulging abs

The human took a step back as he noticed the creature’s six muscular arms, hooved feet and a mark across its’ chest that said ‘9FP’

“What the hell are you?” Dave gawped as the creature’s goat head looked down at him

“You must be new… and fresh,” the creature smirked. “I am Inmate 9FP, I was once known as… I can’t remember… but I want to know what you taste like, Inmate… 1EC?”

Dave rubbed his mark, “Yeah what do these marks mean?”

“Enough talk!” 9FP grabbed Dave’s arms and lifted him into the air, Dave kicked him in the face but his legs were grabbed soon after

“Why the fuck are you going to eat me?” Dave didn’t get a warning as his chest was punched by the creature’s remaining arms. He coughed as he felt his ribs give way without much resistance

9FP placed his free hands onto Dave’s stomach, his dirty nails pushing into Dave’s skin. “We can feed but the hunger remains, we can drink but the thirst sticks… we can die but the pain continues to burn”

Dave resisted as he felt his arms and legs get pulled in opposite directions, the skin around his belly was already feeling the strain of large fingers being slowly pushed in. “So you hope that I can remove your hunger?”

“Yes, you are new and you will feel the pain of being digested bit by bit,” 9FP licked his lips as his fingers became coated in Dave’s blood. “And if my hunger isn’t affected by eating you then I will roar and allow the other hundred thousand inmates to feast on you before you even reform your eyes!”

“Go to hell!” Dave spat into 9FP’s face. The creature licked the spit as he savoured the taste

“Hell…” 9FP began to pull out Dave’s entrails as he engorged himself of the red meat, tearing the clothes away so he could get to the flesh with ease. “Hell is paradise compared to this place”

Meanwhile…

Esk continued to type, the small clicks of her typewriter were disturbed as her light flickered and a cloaked figure stepped in front of the glass. She shuddered before looking up, the eleven foot being wasn’t completely visible as its’ hand pressed against the glass and showed a crushed bug

“What is this?” A stern voice asked

“I-it appears to be a record beetle Mr Warden,” Esk rubbed her feathered hands together nervously. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

The warden left the squashed bug against the glass, “the beetle is dead… no beetle can die”

“I-it must have been the new inmate,” The bird squawked in alarm as the warden suddenly placed a finger on the glass and pointed at the receptionist

“What is his mark?” the warden growled

“Inmate 1EC,” Esk shook in terror as the finger dropped and the warden hummed. “He is staying for one Tartarien year”

The warden turned to look elsewhere, “Crime?”

“None, he came in to look for something,” Esk found the document and hastily pulled out the info sheet, slipping it through the gap at the bottom of the glass. “Here is his file”

The warden took the sheet and read all the info, “I will let him get settled, maybe let him meet some of the bigger fish before I meet him”

“Shall I arrange for him to be delivered to your office?” Esk asked, her nervousness obvious as she talked

“No,” the warden hummed as he passed the document back. “I will present the chance myself and hopefully Inmate 1EC will let himself in”

Esk nodded as she looked back at her typewriter, “I apologize for my rudeness but I think Ledger is mistaken, as Inmate 1EC appears to be nothing that threatening”

“He could kill an indestructible beetle without any thought,” the warden hummed. “We will have to see how much untapped potential our new convict has… send a letter to his family, informing that we will have to double his stay”

“Yes Mr Warden,” Esk nodded, her eyes catching a glimpse of the warden’s hand, the mark, ‘1EC’ branded thoroughly into his leathery flesh