To Tartarus and Back: Chapter II

~To Tartarus and Back~
[Chapter II]
|War Drums and Caged Harmonicas|
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>Heavy brass trumpets ripple through the air as the gray clouds crack open and spew feathered lions out of the sky
>Hundreds, no thousands!
>They knew you were coming
>You're dumbfounded as the enemy's armada plummets down to meet your ponies in battle
>You regain your senses and act with a single word
"Ambush!"
>Your words are accompanied by a hellstorm of arrows
>One by one, your soldiers begin to fall around you
>This was the worst possible scenario
>How could you have not considered this obvious situation?
>The stallion below you reels on his hind legs
>Your soldiers look to you, expecting your order
>You draw your sword, the small pillar of sunlight escaping it's leather scabbard
>You raise it high in the air, aligning it with your precious sun
"Phalanx!"
>The sound of a thousand hearty stallions' hooah sends adrenaline coursing through everypony's battle ready veins
>The gilded shields cover you in shadow as they are raised in the air, creating a turtle shell around you
>You order the draw back on their spears and anticipate the griffon's onslaught
>Through the tiny cracks between the shields you watch them and hold the order to strike
>Closer, and closer, and closer they fly at bullet speed. Keen on ripping you apart and claiming your head as a trophy
"Now!"
>Another Hooah rings around the turtle shell and spears protrude outward just as griffon claws batter the barrier
>The sounds of anguish fall on your ears as your stallions began to plunge into the enemy with rhythmic pace
>Your men trained with the sounds of a four-beat drum
>First two beats: Ready your spear and windup to strike
>Last two: Thrust and return your spear to repeat the cycle
>The drums play in your head as you watch proudly
>This was your song of conquest

>In and out, in and out
>You were a killing machine
>You worked like a tank, leading the front as the stallions outside the shell fought with griffons who landed
>If you could hold the phalanx you may just be able to come out of this alive
>But wait, what are they doing?
>The griffons retreat into the sky, gathering into a mass of feathers and claws
>Like a swarm of locus they make a b-line for the phalanx
>"Shit! They're going to break the phalanx!"
>The stallion below you begins to quiver as they draw nearer
>But you have faith in your soldiers
>They'll hold this shell until the end of time
>In an instant they are on top of you
>The initial impact wasn't as bad as you braced for, but all the more worrying
>They crashed into the shields like kamikazes
>Dying in hopes that their sacrifice would pave the way to victory for their brothers
>For each griffon you killed, two more replaced them
>Your mighty wall held the threat back, but even Troy's walls were bested
>All it took was one crack, one sliver of a chance to shatter the entire structure
>They were looking for such an exploit
>And they found it
>For an instant, one fraction of a second, a griffon dug his claw past a stallion's spear and jabbed it's claws into his neck creating the gateway they were looking for
>The griffon now crawled into the shell
>Instantly killed by another stallion, he was replace by another, and also killed
>With each new griffon the wider the hole got
>Eventually a single griffon was able to slither inside and reek havoc on your men as they shot out their claws
>The mass of shields and spears fell around you and before you knew it, a spear was jabbed into the right side of your chest
>What greeted you after the initial shock was darkness

>Your Consciousness returns to you with the pain of dirt and rocks scrapping against your face as your dragged with your hands bound
>How many of your men died?
>Why are you not dead?
>You took a spear to the chest for God's sake
>The burning pain in your chest confirms it
>You raise your head as high as you can to see the rope leading to a harness grappled onto a griffon
>You can't see further ahead so you crane your neck backwards to see your soldiers in worse shape you've ever been
>A groan is heard to your right and the familiar face of Shining greets yours
>How could this happen?
>You, the pride of Equestria, the pride of your princess, was beaten the first day of the campaign. How embarrassing. You'd rather die than face Celestia
>The only relief you can revel in is the sight of your sunlight sword resting in a griffons mouth
>It shines warmly, but dimmer
>Gray skies are all that meet you up above, will you never see the sun again?
>Soon the caravan stops and your face will no longer have to suffer the pain of rocks and dirt
>You manage to rise to your feet, but as you rise the pain in your chest nearly buckles you over
>Your party is in shadow now
>A gigantic stone gate towers above you, leading into Congress Mountain, the pride of the griffon kingdoms
>"I see your awake prisoner."
>The griffon who manages your binds calls back to you
"Hello."
>You always wanted to be polite to your enemy, out of respect for having the same state of being
>Warriors of honor and such
>He smiles at you with a toothy smirk
>"Looks like you ponies have been shaking things up eh? First Stalliongrad, then Neighpan. And her royal Sunshine graces us with her greed."
>It nags you that he calls your princess out of her name just for spite, but now wasn't the time to raise a fuss about it. You weren't really in the most confident of states
>His smile lingers and shifts into a curious gaze
>"What exactly are you lad?"
>That's new

>You don't get to answer his question due to the loud shaking as the stone gates open to grant you entry
>"Ey? Guess that's the end of our little chat. I'll be handing you over to prisoner management. Try not to comment on his beak, he hates it!"
>The griffon laughs as he hands you over to a more sterner looking lion
>He bore a very thin scar that traced from his right brow down to the left side of his neck
>It's amazing how he didn't lose that eye
>"You must be the princess' hound I take it. Anonymoose?"
>Moose?
"It's actually Anonymous." you correct him
>"I don't give a shit what your name is."
>He spits on your boots in sheer disrespect
>If it were a fair fight you'd bash his head in, aside from the previous griffon, you heard they were terribly crude and had no honor
>Below you, Shinning comes to, it's only now that you see the bruise on his head
>"Ugh....Anon, it must be a miracle we're alive."
>He looks down at the rope around his neck, and past you to the intimidating griffon
>Any hint of bliss he had for being alive was now drained completely
>At least you won't be in this mess alone
>Ever since Celestia took complete power, Shinning Armor has been the closest thing you had to a friend. And he was a good soldier
>He would be key to your eventual escape from this place

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>You are brought before the king, alone
>The fate of your men are unknown and you parted ways with Shining hours ago
>Now this lion king was an interesting character
>He wore no crown or any sort of regalia
>His feathers were bleached white and underneath, his down feathers were black
>The most off putting thing about him was that he was blind, the milky white cataracts clouded his eyes and reflected your imagine
>The sound of the guards pushing you to your knees notified him of your presence
>His vacant eyes find the origin of the sound and his elderly crow of a voice addresses you
>"This must be the man I've heard so much about, though mostly tall tales, I'm sure."
>A cough proceeds his speech, and now that you think about it, he does look rather sickly
>"Forgive me for my illness. Seems that we can't live without the sun after all."
>He laughs as he refers to the constant gray sky over the mountain
>Celestia's tactic before the campaign was the exclude other nations from the sun's rays, crippling their farms until eventually starving them
>This only led to boarder conflicts between nations
>"Tell me your name lad." he says
"I go by Anonymous."
>The king chuckles in his seat
>"Oh? What a curious name. A man without a name is hardly a man at all."
>It doesn't feel like an insult but it still stings somewhere in the back of your mind
"But a man who has undying commitment for his princess does not need a name. So why would I need one?" You retort
>A smile spreads across his beak
>"But a name is the only thing we mortals have in the end. What are you when you are in the ground? Dust, only a name to be carried on the winds of history. And I imagine that 'Anonymous' will be an entire textbook."
>You fail to see where this is going so you remain in silence
>"But I don't want to bore you with my, philosophies. But you will be dead come a fortnight, so I suppose it shouldn't matter to me if you are bored or not."
>Of course there would be an execution
>You didn't like to brag but you were the biggest threat next to Celestia, who ever killed you would be claimed a hero and upon your death a revolution would rise with enough momentum to actually march on Canterlot
>This is why you were extra careful on the field
>You were a liability so you had to remain alive, no matter what
>In your silence the king continues
>"Your death will be by hanging. You will be brought to the peak of Congress and be hung from Tartarus tower. Then, over time, as your body withers, your skull will be fashioned into a crown."
>Well that's a bit much actually, you heard griffons were barbaric, but that's just overkill!
>You can already picture your body hanging from the snowy mountain top as the highwinds slowly rock your body back and forth
>Even so, you wonder if your princess would grieve for you
>You find yourself drifting off to warmer thoughts
>You feel the slight burns on your cheek, their rough texture sliding under your finger tips
>Would you never feel her again?
>It would seem so
>"Also,"
>The king breaks you from your despair as he draws your sword from it's scabbard.
>"This sword is very peculiar. It's cold as ice."
>Of course it is
>Only you were able to wield it, it was your only gift from the princess
>You can slowly see ice form around his claws as he lays the sword back to rest
>"It would be quite the sword to have if I could wield it. But your enchantments are beyond our understanding so it is of no use to me. I'll bury it with your body, that will be my last kindness to you."
>He places the sword in the mouth of another griffon who brings it to you
>"We've dulled the blade, I'm only allowing you to keep it as I see that it's a very personal item. I too cherish gifts."
>The griffon king waves a claw and you are lead away into the dungeons of Congress Mountain

>You are escorted through the terrible dungeon that the devil himself would be proud of
>It smells like blood and decay and the loud screams don't help your view on the place
>You finally reach your cell, it's bigger and with more accommodations compare to the ones you'v passed
>The rusted iron groans and creaks as it's opened by prison guards
>Your pushed in, the door slamming behind you before you can regain your balance
>Shining Armor sits on a cot by the wall, the classic iron bar window above him
>"Looks like we're sharing a cell general."
>He put an emphases on general, most likely blaming you for what happened. Which is fair, you just hope that he's not a dick about it
"You have any sort of sentence?" you ask
>Shining looks away, somewhat sad
>"I'm going to be hung from the mountain. The rest of the stallions will either be sold into slavery or executed as well. And it's all her fault."
>Her?
>It was hardly Celestia's fault
>It was entirely your mistake for getting cocky and only taking a thousand for an entire campaign
"It's not the Princess' fault. If you need someone to blame than blame me."
>His eyes don't return to you, instead he continues to look away
>"Alright, I will blame you. It's your fault we're in here. It's your fault our soldiers died today, and it's your fault that Equestria has gone to hell!"
>He shouts at you while still avoiding you
>You knew where this was going, Though he never dared to outright say it in public he had an immense hatred for you, the man who killed his sister and helped the biggest tyrant to ever rule take power
>You almost felt no remorse for what you did
>She opposed your princess and she ordered you to dispose of her. It couldn't be helped
"The only person you should blame her death on is herself."
>This finally earned Shining's gaze, and also a right hook that crashed into your jaw
>You take the hit, it was his just due
>But you knew he was still wrong