Chapter 67

Battering Ram and Flux both gasped for breath as they stopped running, dropping to their flanks as they tried to recover as quickly as possible. “We can do this, you can fly ahead if you need to,” Battering Ram coughed as he poured water over his face

“I need you to help me try and talk to Strong Shield,” Flux took the water bottle from Ram and poured the water into her mouth. “How much further?”

Battering Ram removed his saddlebag and pulled out a map and compass. “We still got an hour or two, we might make it about midnight if we stop once or twice”

“And it was sundown only a few hours ago,” Flux groaned. “We have to keep going, no matter what”

Meanwhile…

The creatures and inmates of Tartarus shook as the tendrils separated and dug into the bodies of their hosts. The first creature to approach Dave was 9FP, his eyes were blank as his mouth opened further than possible and a mass of tendrils swiped out and reached for Dave

The human dived to the side as the rest of the creatures began to advance, tentacles slowly consuming their bodies. The possessed inmates began to run, as they collided with each other a tendril would attach them and cause them to merge and mutate

“Get the hell away,” Dave growled as he avoided grabs and began hitting back at the inmates. Being forced to fight all the time had developed Dave’s reflexes and his punches landed with greater accuracy

As Dave ducked under a scrawny claw he landed an uppercut into the creatures’ chin, sending it into a few other monsters. The tendrils instantly reacted and began merging the bodies, reaching out at other infected creatures as it slowly became a large mass of tentacles that began moving towards the human

Dave ran down the black corridor as the tentacle monster chased him. “I have seen enough hentai to know where this is going!” he yelled with a smirk that turned into a frown. “Hang on… I REMEMBER THAT?”

Swarm managed to throw a tendril around Dave and drag him towards the swirling mass of tentacles. Dave managed to yank his arm away, snapping the tendril but Swarm quickly lurched forwards again

The tendril around Dave’s arm began to bulge and tighten around Dave’s skin. His vision shook as the piece of Swarm began to pump toxins into his body, making him feel ill and collapse to his knees

The mass of tendrils paused as it waited for the human to succumb to the tentacle that was slowly wrapping around his body. Dave fell to his back as he stared up at the black ceiling, “Extended sentence… for nothing”

Warden’s voice echoed through the halls of Tartarus as he sighed down the PA system. “Well this is a shame, I expected more from 1EC but it looks like his family will have to go without him for a little longer… you managed to resist the other inmates but Swarm takes you”

“Resist…” Dave raised his marked arm to look at his brand, a small part of Swarm’s tendril broke away to start wrapping around that arm. “I can resist magic… resist other’s power… why can’t I resist you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Warden snarled over the intercom. “I am the warden, I am the god here!”

Dave climbed to his feet and glared at the mass of tentacles and tendrils, his mark glowed as he growled. “I am not spending another minute in this place, I am going back to my family, back to Celestia, Luna, Nox, Strong Shield…” Dave began to sweat as his make began to burn brighter and the tendril around his body burst into flames and fell to the floor. “You want me to defeat Swarm? I will kick its ass!”

Dave raised his arm to face the swirling pool of flesh and tendrils, the monster screeched as its’ mark along one of the small tendrils, the source of the abomination began to burn as well

“I chose to come into Tartarus, I chose to look for the vault… but I won’t allow my life to be controlled by others anymore,” Dave snarled as he clenched his fist and the tendrils began to crumble away and turn to ash, leaving behind the pieces of the normal inmates. “I am going back to normality! I am sick of this prison and I am sick of all this pain!”

“1EC… you are killing something inside a prison where everything is meant to survive,” Warden hummed. “If you kill Swarm then I will be forced to take action against you”

Dave shook his head, “Nah, I won’t sit by and let others make decisions for me or try to pressure me into something,” the human dropped to his knees as he kept his burning arm aimed at the disintegrating monster. “You want to make a bet? To show how much faith in my abilities at taking control of my own life?”

“Sure,” Warden chuckled. “I bet you won’t adjust to living on the outside and you will come back here eventually, you have gotten a taste for eating the living”

Dave nodded, “fine, I bet that I can make Tartarus good for me… if I lose?”

“You spend eternity here and I make your punishment a thousand times worse every year,” Warden chuckled. “I love my job sometimes,” the warden sighed happily

“Shame because that is what I want when I win this little bet,” Dave smirked. “I saw the mark when you took my key, you must have beaten the previous warden and took over”

The warden’s door came sliding over to Dave as Swarm continued to burn. The door opened and the cloaked figure of the warden stood with the golden key in his grey palm. “Deal, see you soon Inmate 1EC”

Dave looked back at Swarm before roaring and opening his hand, causing the monster to burst and ash to get sent down the corridor. The human gasped for breath as his mark returned to normal and he stood to face the warden

The warden extended his hand and shook it with Dave’s, passing over the key in the process. “I don’t lose, think about that when you leave”

“I don’t intend to forget that you tried to extend my sentence,” Dave looked at the golden key in his palm. “You are lucky I have a family to help first”

“Stand before the orange orb in the main area and you will be taken to the reception so you can be released… for now,” Warden slammed his door before the wood began to fade from existence

Dave looked at his mark, “Resistance isn’t as futile as I thought”

Meanwhile…

Celestia yawned as she climbed into bed, glancing to the spot where Dave normally slept. “Maybe he has come back and is with Luna…” Celestia sighed as she looked back at her hooves. “So much for spending time together”

The white princess yawned before a black brick smashed through her window and landed on the bed. A black envelope attached with a red elastic band stared at the alicorn as she glanced between the smashed window and the letter

Celestia used her magic to repair the window and pick up the envelope, she had seen the simple wax symbol the sealed it one once before. The princess’ horn glowed as she teleported to her sister’s bedroom, seeing it was empty before teleporting to the throne room and finally the dining room, finally finding her sibling

“Luna we may have an issue,” Celestia placed the letter on the table in front of the surprised alicorn. Her eyes darted to the grey alicorn that sat with a bowl of ice cream. “What are you doing up?”

“I was talking to Auntie Luna,” Nox smiled innocently. “What’s the letter?”

Luna leaned forward and shuddered at the seal, “Why would they send another letter? Surely the Warden couldn’t have been replaced so soon”

“I am worried that it is a warning of some sort,” Celestia sighed as she broke the seal and removed the sheet of paper from within. “Dear Princess Celestia, as you know…”

Celestia’s eyes opened into a furious glare as she slowly snarled. Luna looked nervously at Nox before standing to look at the letter with her sister

Dear Princess Celestia,

As you know, your partner Dave has been admitted to Tartarus by the unicorn Strong Shield. The imprisonment was due last one day but I have doubled his time due to unforeseen circumstances.

Kind regards
Warden

“I am going to kill Strong Shield!” Celestia yelled as she stormed around the table and picked up Nox. “I can’t trust anypony with those I love”

Luna shook her head in disbelief as she read the letter, “This has to be wrong… where are you going?”

“To get my fiancée back and stick that blasted unicorn into that infernal prison,” Celestia snarled

“This isn’t like you,” Luna’s ears drooped as she walked over to her sister’s side. “I am coming to make sure you don’t do anything you might regret”

Celestia didn’t respond but her horn glowed and the flash of light engulfed all the alicorns and the reappeared over the spiked dome that was Tartarus fortress. They instantly spotted the diamond dragon that rested on top of the prison

“Adamas?” Celestia glared, “If I find out that Odio is involved then I will punish them all personally”

Nox flew beside his aunt as they all flew down to the dragon and stared at him. The diamond drake sat up and sighed, “When did you find out?”

“Where is Dave?” Celestia’s voice shook as she almost broke into tears. “I lost him once and I am not losing him to that prison!”

Luna shuddered as she saw her sister’s pain, “Please Adamas, can you tell us if it is true? Is Dave really in… Tartarus?”

“Yes,” Adamas dropped his head. “Strong Shield had a problem that only Dave could resolve… Dave volunteered to go in alone and…”

“Enough!” Celestia snapped. “Once I am through with Strong Shield then I will deal with you!”

Meanwhile…

“Something has to be wrong,” Strong Shield shook his head. “It has been past Dave’s planned time, he should be out by now”

Odio sighed as he pulsed red, “I am getting a lot of energy though, so… you know… silver lining and all that”

The unicorn sighed, “I just want this over with, all the fighting and having to protect”

Strong Shield and Odio both looked up at the large black cube as they hummed impatiently, Odio’s burning red eyes looked around the space they were in and sighed

“I spy with my little eye,” Odio paused as he saw Dave, naked, covered in multiple colours of blood and with eyes void of energy. “Well at least we know how bad Tartarus was”

Strong Shield ran over to Dave as the human fell to his knees, “Dave, are you ok?”

“I’m great,” Dave smirked, his hand held out the golden key as he showed it to Strong Shield. “The vault wasn’t in there… I spent a year getting eaten and going mad for nothing”

The black unicorn visibly shuddered as he looked at the floor. “Dave… I’m sor…” the floor shook as the top of the dome was hit by a monumental force. The human fell and the key flew from his hand, bouncing off something and producing a metallic chime

Odio floated over to the key and his fog swept across the floor, revealing a golden surface. “The vault was inside the walls, not the prison itself,” the fog chuckled. “So Dave had to pick up the soap for nothing”

Dave snarled as he glanced at Strong Shield. “Don’t worry, Tartarus helped me learn a few things so I won’t hold it against you”

“But I sent you in there…” Strong Shield shook his head as he walked over to the golden triangular prism that Odio was pulling from the ground. “Let’s just finish this,” the ex-guard sighed as he levitated the key up and towards a small gap that was large enough to fit into

Meanwhile…

Adamas reared again before roaring and ramming his head against the black wall of Tartarus fortress. “I may be able to break through and allow enough space for one of you to get through”

“We need to get in there and see what is going on,” Celestia frowned. “Keep going, even if you begin to feel tired”

Nox looked at the black fortress walls, “Is dad in trouble?”

Celestia sighed, “I don’t know, but I need to find out soon”

The grey alicorn hummed as he looked at the fortress, his eyes widened happily as an idea popped into his head. “I’ll go find out,” Nox said happily as he created a wormhole and dove through

“NO!” Celestia yelled as the wormhole closed before she could reach it. “ADAMAS HURRY!”

The diamond dragon flew up slightly and brought all his weight into a smash, causing the fortress dome to crack and the dragon to wobble slightly as it shook its’ head. The dragon began to prepare another smash as soon as it recovered

Meanwhile…

“DAD!” Nox cheered as he flew towards Dave, the golden vault behind the shocked human released a red light before bleeping loudly. The top opened and a set of golden restraints appeared and opened in preparation

Alicorn detected. Absorption success rating 68%. Activating Harvest.

Dave ran towards Nox, reaching a hand to the grey alicorn to grab him. But before the human could touch the colt, a golden claw grasped Nox’s hoof and began reeling it towards the open hatch

“Nothing touches my son!” Dave yelled as he grabbed the golden cable that grabbed Nox and was pulled into the golden vault. The golden clamps tried to hold Nox still but Dave began pulling them apart, dismantling the machine from the inside

Anomaly detected. Analysing.

A golden syringe stabbed Dave before taking a small sample of blood. The machine bleeped and paused in trying to restrain Nox before it growled back to life

New life form detected. Absorption success rating… 69%. Harvesting new life form.

“Ha ha,” Odio sniggered. “Sixty nine…”

The golden clamps around Nox released briefly, allowing Dave the chance to push open the hatch and throw his son to safety. “Hey Odio! Less jokes and more FUCKING HELP ME!” Dave yelled before clamps crabbed him and pulled him back into the mass of wires

Meanwhile…

“Oh no,” Flux gasped as they entered Tartarus courtyard, Cerberus was watching Adamas head-butt the black dome. She began to fly towards the dragon and saw that Celestia and Luna were both watching the dragon slowly break through

Battering Ram followed as much as he could from the ground as he watched Flux fly over to the princesses. “What the hay is going on?” He mumbled as he was forced to wait, the moonlight illuminated the fortress walls and allowed him to see the crack where Adamas was hitting

“Princesses!” Flux called as she neared the alicorns. Both the royal sisters looked at the Pegasus but Luna took the most surprised expression as she saw Flux approach and Ram on the ground. “What is going on?”

Luna turned to Flux. “You? What are you both doing here?”

“It’s a long story but it is urgent that we get into this fortress!” Flux looked at the large crack Adamas had made. “Dave is in trouble and so is all of Equestria if we don’t hurry!”

Celestia gritted her teeth as she looked at the dragon, the Pegasus, the earth pony and her sister. “Luna get the other pony, you get ready to go in, and Adamas… give it everything”

Adamas grabbed the dome with his claws as he reared his head back. Luna raced over to Battering Ram and quickly grabbed him with magic. As the dragon gave one final smash against the dome it finally gave way, creating a large enough hole for all the ponies to rush in

Celestia saw Strong Shield and rushed over, venom in her eyes as she glared at the unicorn. “WHERE IS HE?”

“In the vault!” Strong Shield pushed his worries aside as he continued to hold the crying Nox. Odio was wrapped around the top of the golden prism as he groaned

“Has anyone got a towel I can use? Because this jar is tough,” The fog grunted as it pulled at the sealed hatch

“MOVE!” Battering Ram yelled as Luna placed him on the ground. The huge earth pony charged at the vault, ignoring the glare from Strong Shield as he leapt and brought his front hooves against the top of the vault, causing it to tip and fall to the ground

Flux ran over and began bucking the top of the vault, Battering Ram gave a large kick and caused the hatch to dent, opening it at the edges enough for Odio to slip through and began expanding from within and breaking the machine from the inside

“I got him!” Odio cheered as the hatch popped open and the fog raced out, Dave’s legs dangled out of the dense fog as Odio pulled him to safety. “Only minor head scars so we are ok!”

Strong Shield stared at the vault as its’ noises switched from mechanical to organic. “Everypony out! Adamas BURN IT!”

“How dare you!” Celestia towered over Strong Shield as she glared down at the stallion. “You used my fiancée enough times without dragging him into this torture!”

“Enough chit-chat!” Odio wrapped his fog around everyone and began funnelling them out the hole. “Alright scales you can do the fire trick now!”

Adamas waited until everypony was clear of Tartarus before sticking his head in the hole and breathing fire at the broken vault, a sickening screech met his ears but was quickly silenced as he added more force and the gold began to melt

The dragon prepared to let out another blast but saw that nothing was moving and everything was covered in soot. Before pulling his head out, the dragon noticed Dave’s trenchcoat was draped over the front of the Daedalus. He pulled his head out and reached in with his claw to retrieve the clothing before flying away from the hole and regrouping with the crowd of angry ponies on the other side of the ravine

Luna and Nox were holding Dave’s sleeping body as Celestia glared down at Strong Shield, tears running down her face. “Of all the ponies I could trust… it had to be you that tried to destroy my happiness”

“Princess Celestia, it was me that drove Strong Shield to do this,” Battering Ram stood in front of the dark unicorn. “If anypony is to be punished then it should be me”

“Me too,” Flux rushed to Ram’s side. “It is our fault this got out of hoof”

“Fine,” Celestia snarled. “You can all spend time in prison together,” the white alicorn turned to Luna. “Take them to Canterlot and make sure every guard knows that they are to be imprisoned and only I am allowed to see them”

Luna shuddered as she saw the hatred behind her sister’s eyes. “Ok, just make sure we can talk before anything else happens”

Celestia walked over to Dave as she wrapped a wing around her son, “Adamas, can you carry Dave straight to Canterlot and then Odio can take him straight to the medical ward”

The dragon slowly picked up Dave with his claws and allowed the black fog to cling to him before taking flight. The fog’s red eyes moved to look at the unconscious Dave, “Celestia sure looks pissed, wait until she sees the scars on Dave’s head then she will burst a blood vessel”

Celestia’s horn glowed as she teleported herself and Nox to Canterlot castle and appeared in Celestia’s quarters. “Nox I need you to be brave, mummy is going to do some errands but when daddy gets here I want you to stay with him ok?”

“Ok mummy,” Nox rubbed the tears from his frightened eyes. “That golden machine made lots of scary noises and daddy was yelling and he went silent and… and…” the colt held back tears as he hugged his mother, Celestia holding back her own tears as she gently rubbed his mane

“It’s ok,” Celestia said soothingly. “Everything is going to be ok from now on… I’ll make sure of it”