Chapter 66

“1EC?” Dave tapped his chin with the severed hand he held. “If this is a rating system then I am supposedly the most dangerous thing in Tartarus”

Dave moved the hand to his mouth and bit off one of the short red fingers. The hand twitched and squirmed as it attempted to escape Dave, the severed finger crawled around Dave’s mouth before his tongue moved it into the path of his teeth

“Not very meaty are you?” Dave threw the arm aside as he wiped his mouth. “Admittedly I am becoming a lot more relaxed here, I have been an inmate for… shit… I can’t remember”

The human reached the end of the dark corridor as he arrived in the large open space, this area saw most of the dangerous inmates and Dave liked to see who was around. His eyes instantly glanced to the large sphere that was imbedded in the wall at one end, its orange glow illuminated the entire area

Dave recognised a six armed creature that was tearing into a bloody pulp in the ground. “Inmate 9FP?” he smiled as the goat headed being turned and smirked at Dave

“So if it isn’t the newest prisoner, I haven’t seen you for a while,” 9FP cracked the knuckles on all six of his fists. “I recall you tasted fairly… beefy”

“I haven’t eaten in a while,” Dave licked his lips as he felt the deep hunger that he could never satisfy. “And I would imagine you taste quite stringy”

9FP began to run at Dave, his fists ready as he lunged at the human. Dave took a step forward and allowed his head to get hit in rapid succession, the pain piled on top of the pain he had amassed since his arrival

Dave fell to his knees and began laughing, his happiness made 9FP frown with curiosity. “Don’t you fight against those that will gladly feast on your kidneys?”

“I don’t fight,” Dave stood as he looked up at the larger creature. “I don’t know what I figured out recently but it has made me… better”

9FP snorted, “Like I care, I might start with your throat this time to shut you up!” The beast moved to grab Dave’s head but a hand grabbed his wrist and held him at bay. He grunted as he placed two more hands onto his first hand and tried to push through the immovable force

“You aren’t scary or intimidating,” Dave looked down at the golden object that was tied around his neck. “You have no purpose but I do… I have to find the… um…”

“The pain makes us forgetful,” 9FP snarled as he used his other hand to grab Dave’s head. He wrapped his large hands around Dave’s face as he attempted to pull but the human refused to move. “What the?”

Dave’s muffled laugh came from behind one of 9FP’s hands. Dave used his free hand to pull the hand away from his face without any effort. “I used to think that my resistance to magic was a trait, but it isn’t… it’s a force, a power and I will use it how I see fit”

Dave gently placed a finger over 9FP’s chest and pushed through with ease, the larger convict gasped as he felt more pain being added onto the ache that had he had grown accustomed to

“N-nothing does this to me!” 9FP roared at Dave as he used all his fists to start punching Dave repeatedly in the head, only causing Dave to smile

“And I am not going to give anypony the chance again,” Dave smirked as he brought his other fist forwards and punched 9FP away, leaving Dave with his heart in his hand. “Thanks for the grub!” Dave smirked as he bit into the heart like an apple and walked away

Meanwhile…

Celestia wiped her mouth as she finished her apple pie, “Thank you Applejack that was a wonderful meal”

“Thank ya Princess Celestia,” Applejack smiled. “Would ya like some dessert?”

Celestia tapped her chin, “what is it?”

“Apple crumble of course!” Applejack beamed as the white princess smiled

“I am fine thank you, the pie was more than filling,” Celestia looked over to Nox who was happily chatting away with Applebloom. “Did you have a nice meal Nox?”

The grey alicorn looked over to his mother, “huh? Oh yeah, it was great!” The colt smiled as he looked back to Applebloom. “So you have a school trip to Canterlot soon?”

“Yep!” Applebloom smiled. “Oh Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have started to leave me and my friends alone ever since you yelled at them”

“I try to help,” Nox chuckled as he rubbed his mane. “So when you come for this school trip I can come meet you?”

The young earth pony nodded, “Sure, I would love to see ya and then we can hang out”

Big Mac’s attention was caught by the noise of post being delivered, he quietly slipped away from the table to pick up the letters and place them on the small table beside the door. He saw the usual orders for apples and a letter from a relative, but he also noticed an unusual black envelope that was slightly larger than the rest of them

Before the red stallion could move to touch the letter, Applejack called him back into the dining room. “What is it?” Big Mac asked

“Did ya check Dave’s house to see if he had any post recently?” the blond earth pony asked her older brother

“Uh… nnnope,” Big Mac smiled innocently. “But everypony knows that Dave lives with Princess Celestia”

Applejack rolled her eyes, “I give ya one job, just make sure ya do it tomorrow”

Celestia noticed Nox yawn before he shuffled closer to Applebloom again, “I think it is time that we went home Nox”

Nox groaned as he finally slid off his chair, pausing to move back and kiss Applebloom on the cheek. “See ya soon Applebloom”

“Goodbye Nox, see ya soon,” Applebloom smiled as Nox followed his mother out of the house and towards the carriage. As he passed the stack of letters, the jet black envelope shook and disappeared again, leaving no trace it was ever there

Meanwhile…

Esk groaned as the same black letter appeared in her stack of paperwork, she removed the black letter from the stack and held it as she picked up a plain black phone and pressed one number

The phone rang twice before the sound of the warden came from the receiver, “Can I help you?”

“The letter to Inmate 1EC’s family has been returned again,” Esk looked at the untouched letter. “I think she may be ignoring it”

The warden sighed as he thought, “Well send it via express delivery that will get her attention”

“Yes sir,” Esk pulled open a draw on her desk and removed a smooth black brick and an elastic band. “Is there anything I can do for you sir?”

“Just hold my calls… well… any calls,” The warden hummed before returning to the topic at hand. “I will be meeting Inmate 1EC in a moment, he appears to have settled down nicely”

Esk nodded as she prepared to put the phone down, “ok sir, I will let you know if I get a response letter from Inmate 1EC’s family”

“Thank you Esk,” the warden said farewell before putting the phone down and looking around his office. The walls were still the normal smooth black that made up the rest of Tartarus, but the furniture was all made from varnished wood

The warden was sat on a leather chair, his large desk had neat stacks of paperwork and a small black cube that fit in one of his large hands. He sighed as he relaxed in his chair and held the cube between his hands

“Let’s see how you will react,” The cloaked warden hummed as his door began to vibrate, the noises of screams of pain and suffering before stopping with a sudden thud

“What the hell?” a voice hummed as the door handle turned and Dave poked his head into the room. “Why do you have a flying door? And who the fuck are you?”

The warden placed his cube on the desk, “I am the warden and please take a seat”

Dave stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, the orchestra of screams shrieked again before falling silent. The human walked over to the seat and sat down, his seat was smaller and was made of black stone

“So why am I here?” Dave licked his lips as he looked up at the larger being

“You tell me,” Warden leaned forward. “You originally came into Tartarus to search for a… vault?”

Dave gasped as he looked down at the golden key that hung around his neck by a tattered fabric. “The vault! My dad sent me here to find the vault and make sure the key got locked inside”

“Well there is no ‘Vault’ inside Tartarus, just convicts,” Warden shrugged. “Anyway I doubled your sentence to two Tartarien years”

“Wait what?” Dave looked up from his key his eyes glared at the warden. “Why is my sentence being extended? I didn’t do a crime originally!”

Warden shrugged, “You intrigue me and I wanted to test you before I let you back out into the outside world”

Dave yelled as he leapt at the warden, both his hands reached for his head. The human stopped in mid-air, Warden’s grey finger aimed at him. “I am the warden, I am god here,” Warden flicked his finger and sent Dave crashing back into his chair

“Fine, what do you want?” Dave snarled. “Will you let me go early if I pass?”

“Sure,” Warden reached over his desk and pulled the key away from Dave. “I’ll hold onto this for you, you get it back once you beat Inmate 2TA, AKA Swarm”

“I have been in this shithole for a year now, I have never seen 2TA but I heard about him,” Dave folded his arms as his fingers traced along his own mark

Warden stood to his full height of eleven feet, his long grey cloak shadowed his head and left Dave with an uneasy feeling. “We trim Swarm down every century or so, he eventually digests all inmates and makes them part of his body”

“So how am I supposed to find something that you cut to size?” Dave threw his arms into the air. “I have a life I need to go back to”

“I’ll make it easy for you,” Warden picked up the black cube and held it in one hand. “By the way… what is the name of your son?”

Dave snorted, “My son? His name is…” Dave’s eyes opened as he looked at his hands. “His name…” Dave shuddered as he rubbed his head, his mind scanning the floor as he struggle to think

“Tartarus is designed to do that,” Warden walked over to one of his work surfaces and placed the key on one of the shelves beside various ceremonial blades. “The pain and suffering makes your brain lock information away so you can’t adjust to normal life”

“Why are you telling me this?” Dave groaned as he looked up at the warden. “Why tell me these things? I can fix this when I get out”

Warden shook his head, “You can’t! You may leave Tartarus but Tartarus never leaves you”

“Go to hell!” Dave rolled his eyes. “We are already there though”

“True,” Warden massaged his wrist as he sat down again. “You can’t remember your reason for being here, your son and I doubt you can even remember the name of your lovers”

Dave stood up and slammed his hands onto the table, “SHUT UP! I know their names and I would never forget them!”

“Name one!” Warden leaned forwards as Dave’s head dropped and he began to groan loudly, the warden leaned back as Dave began to grip his head, pulling at his hair. “See? Tartarus makes you incapable of surviving on the outside”

“FUCK YOU!” Dave yelled as he paced around the room, growling as he tried to remember. “Just let me kill this other inmate and let me go!”

Warden tapped his black cube and the door clicked open, “Go on, I’ll see you soon”

Dave pulled the door open and stepped out into the large open area of the prison, all the other convicts stood staring at him, multiple tendrils connected the inmates. “When you said that Swarm makes inmates part of his body”

The warden’s door slammed shut as the warden placed down his cube. “Now we will see if you really are 1EC”