Sanguine Souls

Blood. A sin for a man to spill another's, and in desperation, a man may seek forgiveness for his sins. In pursuit for forgiveness, that man is often destined to atone by living through agony and letting time slip away. The sorrow in the furthest reaches of one's memory, and the sorrow just beyond one's memory...which is truly more heartbreaking?

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The River Styx flowed like a true river, denounced as such by the souls flooding it. Soulless Reaper stared with red eyes into the abyss of the lost essences of the dead as he passed through on Charon’s ferry. The dull shine of the river reflected Soul's black coat, dotted at certain points with white stripes and his white curled mane drooped halfway over hsi face. Soul's wings seemed to shiver a bit as he inspected the walls above the river. He did not enjoy these trips mostly because of Hades’s decorations. Hades hung skeletons of ponies, humans and other unknown creatures across the walls. Sure, it matched the setting, but it seemed to Soul that Hades found a sick pleasure in scaring or intimidating anyone that passed through. The journey seemed to become longer to Soul every time he rode, and his thoughts flowed like the river below him as the boat traveled along it.

Hopefully, the mass of these souls have done good; Tartarus is crowded as it is. Perhaps I may be able to find home someplace else soon Soul revelled, enjoying the thought of being part of a civilization like the other ponies in Equestria. He had always liked hanging around them, despite their blatant opposition of his efforts. Although trouble had been showing up in the land more than occasionally, Celestia had always wished that Soul would take a non-lethal route to dealing with it. What other route is there? He pondered.

Soul turned and looked at his three-pronged scythe that lay beside him on the ferry. The spectral light from the river shined off the triple blades, giving it an eerie, ghost-like glow. The engravings along the bottom of the handle were lit up by the shine of the blades, revealing the dark magic that coursed through it.

There really is no other route for me. This is what I was born for. Soul concluded, shrugging off any feelings of remorse. He was who he was. His origins, and even his cutie mark, said so. If I don’t stop those that threaten Equestria’s safety, nobody will.

After a short while, Charon’s ferry arrived at the shore of Tartarus. From the dock, Soul could see the turret which Tisiphone stood with her whip, keeping a close eye on the prisoners and Hecatons that guarded them.

Every time Soul laid eyes on Tartarus after being in the mortal world, he felt privileged to have a good standing with Hades. Tartarus was the eternal prison for the damned, and Soul could wander about freely, leaving and returning whenever he needed to on the exception that he do Hades’ hunting for him. Albeit, traveling between the two worlds could be rather tedious. Hades had Soul running about like his attack dog.

At least I’m not the only attack dog here Soul joked to himself as he silently greeted Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog to the gates of Tartarus. Just past the gate lay the vast prison in which the evil and wicked were kept to suffer for eternity. It hovered above a large and black abyss where the Titans were imprisoned, suspended by the paths which led into the middle where Hades usually resided.

Soul trekked on, paying little attention to the guards and prisoners scattered about the prison. Tartarus was a place of suffering, where the inmates were punished depending on what their crimes in life consisted of. The greedy were given great riches just to have them stolen away, murderers were physically tortured constantly, and the lazy were forced to work every minute for eternity to no avail. It truly was a place of eternal suffering. It was also Soul’s home, and although some of his worst enemies were imprisoned there, he preferred to be there keeping an eye on them all. In a way, he was also one of the watchmen.

As he was walking, Soul soon heard something approaching quickly from behind him. He turned to see Nuntius, one of the underworld’s goblin messengers approaching him.

“Soul, I’ve got... a memo...for you,” Nuntius said through gasps of breath, “Another soul court you have to attend... on the double!”

Soul scowled. Of course, that mindless drone can’t think for himself, remembering the incident that incited the creation of the soul court. Soul’s brother had fell into the river styx and became a deformed, mindless drone. He could no longer make decisions for the dead entering the underworld, so the soul court was created to do such tasks for him. It was because of this that Soul disliked attending the courts, and being notified so late didn’t help the matter.

“Thanks, Nuntius. I’ll be on my way immediately” Soul replied, slinging his scythe onto his back and taking off on his wings as fast as he could in the direction of the court.

It wasn’t long before Soul was standing before the portal that lead into the courtroom. Upon stepping inside, Soul immediately noticed the dramatic change in temperature. The floor was made of a smoothed bedrock floating above an endless pit of fire. The courtroom was meant to look intimidating, but the heat was so unbearable in contrast to the cold of the Underworld that trying to cool down was all Soul could focus on. He was used to it by now, but entering the courtroom always took adjusting. Once he did so, Soul walked over to the jury’s bench and took his seat, waiting for the case to begin.

After a few minutes, a red-skinned, demonic man in a suit and glasses entered alongside a normal earth pony with a red coat and brown mane. Upon looking closely, Soul could see that his coat was very pale and his eyes were slightly bloodshot with bags under them. His cutie mark appeared to be a hammer crossed with a wrench, indicating that he was some sort of repair or handy-work pony. They sat down at the defense table halfway across the courtroom.

I wonder what he’s in for. He looks so....regular. I doubt he’s here for anything hostileSoul pondered. His thought were broken as the sound of the judge’s mallet slammed down several times.

“This soul’s court will now come to session” spoke a high, rickety voice from a human skeleton dressed in long black silk robe and a judge’s wig. The judge was new every time. A few of them had Soul holding back laughter, while others downright disgusted him. “Brawny Boulder, you have been convicted of several murders and the practice of vampirism. How do you plead?”

Vampirism? That’s not very common, especially not with ponies. Soul thought, dumbfounded that his suspicions of the pony were very wrong. Perhaps this court will prove to be interesting for once.

“The client pleads guilty, your honor” spoke the red lawyer, in a rather proper tone.

“What?!” protested Brawler, planting his hooves on the table he sat at, “I said I’m not guilty! I didn’t-”

The judge slammed his mallet down “Quiet, or I’ll turn you into a suitcase!” he threatened, leaning forward and pointing the mallet at Brawler, who sat down quickly in response. “Now then, back to the matter at hand...”

Before the judge could continue, the fire below the courtroom quickly changed its burning orange color into a cool blue. A few seconds later the fire raged, and Hades himself suddenly appeared out from it with a poof, appearing onto the courtroom floor in a small cloud of smoke.

“Heya, everybody!” Hades exclaimed across the courtroom “Now, you all know I hate to interrupt these, but I just need to borrow Soulless Reaper for a teensy little bit” Soul blinked in confusion as he stared at Hades, who sheepishly waved back and beckoned him to follow.

I just finished hunting for him, what does he want from me now? Soul thought as he begrudgingly got up and followed Hades out of the courtroom.

As soon as they were outside the courtroom, Hades spun on his heels to face Soul, an odd smile across his face. “So, Soul, how was the last catch?” he said, eager to hear the details.

“The target came without resistance. He will be punished for...whatever he was guilty for, I guess” Soul replied, hoping Hades would get to his point quickly. He wanted to know more about the soul court case at hand.

“Oh good...good. I can always count on you to take care of a dire situation ” Hades said, patting Soul on the head “That's exactly why I pulled you from that BORING soul courtroom. I need you to take care of something very urgent...very quickly”

As long as it’s not another hunt, I'll be happy to oblige... Soul thought, slightly doubting the urgency of the task. Hades always made things sound worse, or better, than they usually were.

“Anything, Lord Hades” Soul replied. “What would you have me do?”

“I need you to go...find something OR perhaps someone for me. Easy stuff.” Hades advertised, sounding as sincere as he could. He knew Soul would be annoyed to be hunting again so soon. “It’s in Manehattan, in the little pony world. A few ponies have gone ‘off the radar’, all at this same exact place”

Off the radar? Doesn't that mean... Soul trailed his thoughts into his words “Shouldn’t they appear in the Underworld soon then?” Soul asked, sure that the dead souls would immediately transport to the Underworld for judgement.

“Yes...well, that’s the problem!” Hades exclaimed, sounding almost worried. ’None of them have been showing up here, and you know how I hate when invited guests don’t show up. I’d love if you could just try to find who has their souls, y'know, if anybody has 'em. Sound good?”

“I’ll do it.” Soul accepted, still annoyed that he would miss the only interesting soul court in months. “Where in Manehattan should I go?”

“Oh, lemme help you with that” Hades said, putting his hand on Soul’s back. Suddenly they both erupted in Hades' blue flames, and within seconds were standing by the Underworld portal. The tall, purple oval was adorned with two watchful gargoyles that sat at the top.
“Hey boys!” Hades yelled at the gargoyles “Soul is headed to Manehattan, Equestria. Boulder’s Repair and Retails! Make it happen!”

At Hades’ request, the gargoyles pounded their fists against the top of the portal, revealing a wavy picture of Manehattan at a bird’s eye view. Soul walked towards the portal without hesitating, eager to get his task done quickly.

“Good Luck!” Hades said just before Soul entered the portal.

A white light blinded Soul upon entering the portal, causing him to shut his eyes. Suddenly the ground felt as if it disappeared and reappeared again under him. When Soul opened his eyes, he was standing in large, dark room littered by tables, workbenches, tools, and what seemed to be pieces of rails to hold a carriage in place.

“Boulder’s Repair and Retail”? This place seems to have been abandoned for a while Soul thought, upon inspecting the shop. What am I to do in here?

Soul was caught off guard as he heard the faint sound of a large metal door opening and closing in what seemed to be the back of the shop. Following the noise, Soul entered the metal door he had heard being used.

Soul now stood in a small room with a few chairs and tables, seemingly what used to be a lunchroom for employees. Beside the door he entered was another door, this one with a gated window at the top. Looking through the window, Soul could make out three tall figures standing in front of a large windowed wall that lead to what seemed like a black room

Suddenly, Soul heard footsteps behind him. Before he could react, Soul’s head was slammed in between the door and a blunt object. As his vision faded, he barely saw a very tall being dressed in some sort of hooded crimson garb.

Then everything was black.

Soul’s head throbbed as he awoke in a dark room. His vision was blurred and wavered, and threatened to fade again at any moment. He groaned as he tried to stand to no avail, noticing that his scythe was also gone. He could just barely see a couple of other ponies standing in front of him.

“Hey, he’s awake.” said a voice from beside Soul, causing the ponies in front of him to turn.

“Do you think he’s okay?” said a female voice.

“Come on kid. Here, lemme help you” said a voice as somepony beside Soul helped him up. Now standing, Soul managed to make out the two ponies that stood in front of him, then looked to see the pony beside him who helped him stand.

“Where...?” Soul stopped himself as he saw the source of light in the room. A large, rectangular window across the room lead to a dimly lit room that barely illuminated the room he stood in. In the room the window lead to, Soul could see three tall figures.

Suddenly, a realization hit him. Just before being knocked out, Soul had seen the room with the same windowed wall where the same three tall figures stood. He was standing in the room beyond the window wall, and they were watching him.

“What’s going on here?!” Soul asked, a sudden urgency growing in his voice.

“Ease up kid. We are just as worried as you are. We think those things in that window kidnapped us all and locked us in this room. We don’t know what they want...” explained the pony beside him.

Just then, one of the figures moved and a clicking sound could be heard throughout the room. From seemingly nowhere, a voice spoke.

“Welcome. Do not be afraid. We have no hostile intentions” spoke the voice, which was oddly deep and distorted, seemingly to mask the speaker. ‘We intend to grace all of you with something very special. When it is done, we will return your freedom to you. Please be patient.”

At that moment, one of the figures disappeared from view. When it reappeared, Souls hooves suddenly felt wet. Some sort of liquid was being leaked into the room. Soul recognized the scent immediately.

“W-what is this? Some sort of liquid?” exclaimed the male pony that stood in front of him, raising and lowering his hooves.

“It’s blood” Soul remarked firmly. “They’re leaking blood into this room”

‘Blood?” replied the male pony, a hint of worry in his voice. ‘Why blood? What are those things planning?!”. He looked up at the window at the three figures, who now seemed to be huddled together. A faint mumbling could be heard from the window. “What the.....do you hear that?”

The other ponies nodded, still looking up at the window. Suddenly, the blood beneath their hooves began to ripple. It glowed a bright red and started moving about as if something was shaking the room. The other ponies seemed worried. Soul stood still, looking at the blood, trying to decipher what kind of ritual was being performed.

The blood stopped moving, still glowing a bright red, as the voices behind the window became louder. Suddenly, the figures shouted, throwing what looked like their arms up towards the ceiling. At that very same moment, the male pony was hit with what seemed to be a red bolt of lightning from the top of the room, causing him to topple over in the blood pool. The other ponies’ gasps were cut short as they, first the female pony, then the one beside Soul were struck as well.

Soul braced himself, concentrating all his will defensively against what was to inevitably target him next. Sure enough, a streak of red lightning struck Soul directly on top of his head. As Soul resisted the shock, images of strange beings and ponies alike flashed before his eyes. Everything he saw incorporated blood somehow, whether it be something bleeding or somepony covered in blood. The last image was the pale and errie face of a human with crimson-red eyes looking directly into Soul’s. At that moment, a sharp pain struck throughout Soul’s body, causing him to scream in agony against the assault. His body felt numb and heavy, and he could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat within his chest. The veins along his body pulsed a bright red like the blood on the ground had.

What...what has...happened to me...? was Soul’s last thought as his body hit the ground, splashing into the blood under him.

Then, everything was black...