It's About Time, part 2.5: Journey to Tartarus

[no_vampires_plz]

As the three humans, one Hyrulian, one unicorn, and one demon-dog press forward, the character of the woods around them changes. The undergrowth gets denser, the canopy above lets in less light, and the flora in general is much more... exotic than what one usually sees in the woods by the lake.

"Now, I know that the pathway to Tartarus starts somewhere in this general area," says Twilight. "But I don't know of its exact location. It's not something that ponies really want to advertise."

Comments

[fiss84]

"Okay," 84 replies a little startled. "I don't know that it will do much good cause I did tell her once already. Should we all walk now so we stay together?"

[no_vampires_plz]

"Sounds like a good idea to me," says Twilight. "It can't be too much farther..."

[gorgonfondness]

"Stay on your guard all the same," Mia cautions.

There's always at least one more random encounter right before you get to your destination.

[basic_powers]

"Can do."

...even if his steps are a little squelchy still from all the ew.

[fiss84]

84 falls into step and tries to breath from her mouth as she'd down wind and the ew just does not smell good.

[no_vampires_plz]

After they get a few dozen yards down the tunnel, Twilight stops.

"Um. Who's leading Cerberus?"

[gorgonfondness]

Mia looks behind them to see if the dog is still following.

"Who had the food last? And perhaps more importantly, has the mandrake worn off for him?"

[sky_child]

Link winces. "That was me. But I gave it to someone else because of that monster..."

[basic_powers]

"84? I think I remember Link handing the jerky to you."

...what, someone actually you know, kept track of things.

Even if he was inside of a nightcrawler's mouth for some time.

[fiss84]

84 looks down at her hands as if she were holding the bag before looking back at the wall she had smashed to find the bag of jerky where she had dropped it. And of course Cerberus had found it and is now licking it trying to get to the yummy smells.

"I'll go get it!" her voice calls out as she flies off to scoop the bag up despite the drool. "Here boy..."

[no_vampires_plz]

The mandrake toxin hasn't quite worn off yet, but Cerberus does seem a great deal more alert and energetic than he did when the journey began. He perks up immediately and takes off after 84 and her bag of treats.

[gorgonfondness]

"At least he seems to be recovering just fine," Mia comments as she follows, trying her best to keep up while keeping an eye out for trouble.

[sky_child]

"Did you need me to carry it again?" he asks.

[basic_powers]

"I think that'd be best..."

Maybe 84 can just have some fun time scratching Cerberus's ears or something as they hurry down the tunnel.

[fiss84]

"Okay here you go Link. Good sword fighting by the way," 84 says once she's flown over to him. That done, she'll back up a pace and walk next to Cerberus and try to pet him. Giant puppy!

[no_vampires_plz]

They continue on for a while in relative silence.

Then, a light appears somewhere ahead--not the eerie greenish light of fireflies, but sunlight. The tunnel is coming to an end.

[sky_child]

Link grins a little in relief.

And also a little. It's the end of the tunnel, but is it the end of their troubles or the beginning of new ones?

[basic_powers]

More to Moon Shadow's relief, that light means fresh air. That means the stink of Night Crawler guts isn't as heavily present around him.

"We're almost to Tartarus!"

[fiss84]

"Yeah," 84 says as she pulls herself off the ground. Only on Equestria would a party of adventures be relieved to be almost to Tartarus.

[no_vampires_plz]

But they're not quite there yet. The exit to the tunnel is still some distance off... and as they approach, our heroes see three quandrupedal silhouettes standing at the threshhold, facing them.

"Halt!" barks a baritone voice with what an Earth native would recognize as an Australian accent. "Roight, who goes 'ere?"

[gorgonfondness]

Mia steps forward, her mien that of the lady rather than the fighter.

"We are ambassadors serving as escorts to Cerberus, guardian of Tartarus."

[no_vampires_plz]

"Ambassadors from where, exactly?" asks another voice, with a similar accent, but more of a tenor.

"Don't like the look of 'em, mate." A third voice, much deeper. "Purple one's a unicorn, all roight, but what the bloody 'eck are th' rest of them?"

[sky_child]

"We're just helping her escort Cerberus back home. We don't mean any harm."

[basic_powers]

"By the way, you guys have one heckuva bug problem back there in the tunnels."

He's just going to reach up to try and scratch at a spot on Cerberus' chest, since being his size, he can't really reach the ears on his own.

"My name's Moon Shadow."

[fiss84]

"And I'm 84. We are here to help," 84 says floating mid-air with her arms akimbo.