The sun and the moon rose as they always have, however seeming to be more at peace since Princess Luna’s return. Canterlot stood proud as always, housing many ponies of all walks of life. The early morning brought about the early birds who made their way to their workplace, smiles on their faces as well as a skip in their step.
There as one stallion who did not seem to be enjoying that morning. Jet Set, a light grey unicorn with a short, dark chestnut mane which was parted in the front and framed his horn, wavy dark chestnut tail and blue eyes. He wore his usual bifocals, green polo, and had his usual white sweater ties around his shoulders.
Although the stallion was looking his usual best, he seemed to be having an off morning. He was on his way home from some early morning shopping, the appearance of his empty hooves proved there was no fruit of his labor. He walked by a couple of mid-class ponies to whom he raised his nose and kept walking toward his residence.
Upon arriving, he glared at his driver who had just arrived as well.
“How dare you. Making walk back home like a-like a mere commoner!” Jet Set was outraged. The driver sighed,
“I do apologise, but your weight on the broken wheel would have made it worse.” Jet Set’s glare intensified.
“Are you calling me heavy?!” His voiced raised on the last word, he was feeling himself become even angrier. The driver quaked in fear. The dark green earth pony backed up from Jet Set, fear in his eyes. Upper Crust walked out of the house after hearing her husband raise his voice. She walked up to him as quick and mare-like as she could without trying to show she was in a rush. Jet Set took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment.
“Darling?” Upper Crust was beside Jet Set now. Jet Set looked at his wife before turning back to the earth pony.
“You’re done. Get off my property before I call the authorities.” Jet Set turned and walked inside his residence, his wife following behind him after she raised her nose at the green earth pony.
The stallion walked off of the property after taking the attachments from the carriage off of his body. He sighed as he walked down the street toward the side of the city he lived on. It was a nice part of town. Small and quaint, trees growing around the houses like small privacy shields. Cottages could be seen here and there, where a little old mare would be gardening her flowers or sitting on a rocking chair watching their grandfoals. He walked by a couple of his neighbor’s houses who were outside doing yard work. They waved at him, and of course he waved back, his smile hiding the pain he was in at that moment.
He turned when he arrived at a smooth cobblestone path that lead up to a very cute and homey house. He smiled when he saw the house, his heart warming even more when he saw the two fillies playing in the front yard. They were both off-white with dark green manes. The only way you could tell them apart was by looking at their eyes. One of the fillies looked up, her orange eyes landing on the stallion walking up to them She smiled and rushed over to him.
“Daddy!” She cried out happily.
“Hey princess.” He said hugging her. The second looked over and smiled before running over hugging her father as well.
The front door opened, and a beautiful light grey mare walked out, her red mane in a ponytail.
“Nova, you’re back early.” She said, walking over. The two fillies ran inside laughing and giggling. Nova sighed, looking down,
“Jet Set fired me because I wouldn’t let him ride in his carriage. The wheel had broken about three blocks from his mansion. He was not happy.” Nova sighed. His wife kissed him, smiling at him,
“We will be alright.” She said, reassuring the other. Nova Sighed, smiling weakly back at the mare.
“I hope you’re right Arch.”
The night came quicker than Nova had expected. He sighed and sat on the bed while his wife slept. He was not sure what he was going to do. He looked up at the beautiful full moon, wondering what was going to happen to him and his family. Something pony-shaped darted across the moon. Nova blinked opening his window to peer out over the sky, curious to what he had just saw. A small gust of wind blew the stallion’s white mane out of his eyes while he still searched for what he had thought he saw. He sighed, retreating into his room and closing the window.
He turned to go back to his bed to lay with his wife when he saw something by the bed. It was in the shape of a tall pony; the mane was flowing behind it as was its tail. Its entire body looked to be made of the night sky itself. It had no eyes and no mouth from what Nova could see. The horn started to glow pink, and Nova could hear whispers in his ears.
“Tantabus can help. Tantabus can seek revenge for you. But you must repay Tantabus when Tantabus wants repayment.”
Nova blinked and stared at the anomaly for a moment. He was about to speak when the whispers came again.
“Tantabus can hear your thoughts. The repayment Tantabus wants will be chosen when Tantabus wants it.” Nova Sighed, looking down. He thinks in words so Tantabus can hear.
“Will my family be harmed?” Tantabus did not reply right away. The anomaly looked at the sleeping mare. It looked back at Nova.
“Tantabus does not harm pure ponies. Tantabus will not harm if they stay pure. Now, Tantabus can get you money. But you must first promise Tantabus you will pay Tantabus when Tantabus wants it.” Nova was not sure what to do, this thing was offering to help him, but he was not sure. He feels like he has seen this form somewhere before, he knows this thing is evil. But his family comes first. And if something does happen to him, as long as his family will be taken care of. Nova looked at Tantabus where its eyes should be and nodded. He thinks in words once more.
“I promise, I will repay you when you want repayment. I just want my family to not worry about money.” Nova’s heart was racing in his chest after Tantabus had vanished. He stumbled toward his bed and collapsed beside his wife who woke up with a start.
“Everything alright dear?” She asked, looking at him worried. Nova nodded.
“Yeah, just a nightmare.”
Jet Set was sitting at his desk in his study looking at his books with glee. His grin spread from ear to ear as he looked at all the raising numbers. His smile faded when he saw the bill for the carriage that had broken that day. He threw everything off his desk with magic.
“I cannot believe this! Three hundred bits to repair a wheel?!” He sighed and looked over that the time. It was close to ten at night and he still did not feel tired.
“I may as well go count my money again. That always tires me out.” He walks from his office to a large door he opened with a key. As soon as he put the in the key hole, he felt something rush past him. He jumped and turned around, not seeing anything. He turned back toward the door to continue opening it.
He stared in horror as there was a faceless pony staring at him, coming out of the door. Jet Set walked backwards, and as he walked backwards, the faceless pony walked forwards, emerging from the door. He bumped into a stand, knocking down a priceless artifact he had gotten shipped from Bone Dry Desert.
“What are you? What do you want?!” His voice was high, and it sounded like he was choking. Tantabus walked toward the shivering unicorn, its mind whispers making Jet Set stare at it in more horror.
“Tantabus wants blood.”
Jet Set ran as fast as he could down the hallway toward the stairs, hoping that he could escape the nightmarish monster. He felt himself being lifted as he reached the top stair. In an instant he was falling down the hoof crafted piece of art, his blood splattering on the ivory railing and stairs every time his head made an impact. He soon lay at the bottom of the stairs, his body twisted and mangled, blood pouring from his head. He felt warmth, then rejuvenation. He opened his eyes to find he was alright, and there was no blood. However, that monstrosity was standing right in front of him.
“Tantabus could not let you waste blood. Tantabus wants blood.”
Jet Set’s screams could curdle the blood of anyone who heard while Tantabus grabbed him with its magic and started to rip the unicorn limb from limb. Every time Tantabus would rip a limb off, it would bring it to its face, and suck out every last drop of blood. When it was only Jet Set’s head and body left, Tantabus brought Jet Set’s face toward its own, and clasped onto Jet Set’s mouth, sucking every last drop of blood through the unicorn’s mouth.
Dropping the shrivelled pieces of what was once Jet Set, Tantabus cleaned up all the blood from the floor and drank it, leaving no trace it was even there. On its way back up the stairs toward the vault, Tantabus stepped on Jet Set’s glasses, breaking them.
The police were swarming Jet Set’s mansion like flies would swarm honey. The paramedics brought out multiple bags, presumably the pieces of what remained of Jet Set. They found it puzzling how Upper Crust did not hear a thing during the night, since the neighbors heard the screams from twenty blocks down. Upper Crust was taken into custody for questioning, while the rest of the authority figures cleaned everything up and continued their investigation. Which had run cold due to lack of evidence anywhere. Whoever did this was smart in their eyes. While Nova had taken his family to a different part of Equestria, Upper Crust was being punished for a crime she did not commit. She was afraid of the next chapter of her life; which she should be.
Author's Note
I have not seen Jet Set in action fully, so I apologize if his character is off. If you have any good criticism for me I will accept it. Nova and Arch are a couple of OC's I threw in for more story.
Jet Set's funeral was on a beautiful summer day in the best cemetery money could afford to bury him. Upper Crust stood there, crying; the shackles around her hooves chafing her ankles. Not only was she crying for the loss of her darling, she was crying for the loss of her freedom. With lack of evidence, Upper Crust was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to twenty five years to life.
The funeral was as gorgeous as Jet Set would have wanted. Family was there, paying their respects as well as telling Upper Crust they do not blame her for what happened. Some other members of the family were set on believing Upper Crust murdered Jet Set. They believed that she was married to him just for the money. The yellow mare walked with her head down back toward the armored prison van which was going to take her back to the prison. The warden was kind enough to let her attend her husband's funeral that day. Her purple and white bouncy mane and tail were flat and unkempt from all the stress and depression she was going through over at the prison.
The ride back was just as the ride there; cold, bumpy and uncomfortable. Every large bump they could drive over, they did, leaving Upper Crust with large bruises on her head and snout every time she either fell off the bench she was chained to, or hit her head on the low roof of the van. She sobbed in silence as she lay on the bench of the moving van, clinging on for dear life. She did not know what happened. She did not know why she didn't hear her husband screaming. Maybe she was killed too? Maybe she was in purgatory? or worse--Hell?!
The van came to halt outside of the prison, the doors opening to reveal the two guards that had drove her to the funeral. They unlocked the chains from the bench and took her back inside the mare's section of the prison, and back to her cell; back to her. Upper Crust stood there, the shackles were removed from her ankles and the cell door was closed. The mare that was her cell mate looked at her with hunger in her eyes.
"So, the pretty thing came back." She stated as she approached Upper Crust. Upper Crust cowered against the bars as the other mare approached, pinning her against the bars.
"P-please. Don't hurt me again." She whispered, her voice trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. The opposing light purple pony smirked, strands of her short black mane falling over her face.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head. Our fun won't begin until tonight." She whispered before walking away. She jumped back onto the top bunk, laying down and continuing to read her book.
Night soon came, Upper Crust was dreading what her cellmate was going to do to her. She could not fathom to think about the dirty acts that has already happened. She hid underneath her blankets, tears falling down her face as she sobbed to herself.
"Anypony? Please, if you can hear me, save me. I will do anything." She whispered to herself, trembling when she heard her cellmate moving on the bunk above her. A moment passes and she does not hear a thing. She coughed under her breath, but could not hear it. Like she had gone deaf. She peered out from under her covers to look around, her worry was increasing. She did not see anything out of the ordinary in the cell. It was pitch black in there minus the light of the moon which gave the floor a soft glow. She looked up at the bunk above her, wondering if her cellmate had gone back to sleep. She was about to step off of her bunk when she noticed a pool of something on the floor. She reached down to touch it, her right mind not anywhere near her at the moment. It was thick and warm, and in the light of the moon had a crimson tint to it. It was pooled near the ladder, like it had flowed from the top bunk where her cell mate was--.
Upper Crust jumped out of bed and rushed up the ladder to check on her cellmate. She had almost slipped on the mysterious liquid as she reached the top of the metal ladder. She stood there, in horror. On the bed was a dried husk of the light purple mare that had been harassing her since she had gotten there only a week ago. Her eyes popped out of her head, her mouth was gaping open as she stared up at the ceiling. She was laying on her back, her hooves up near her chest like she was trying to protect herself from whatever did this to her. Looking down at the ladder, she noticed the liquid was moving down the metal frame toward the floor. the pool that was there a moment ago was slithering like a snake toward a dark part of the cell. Upper Crust made her way down the ladder, setting hoof on the floor once again. The slithering trail of liquid had disappeared into the dark area, leaving no trace it was even there in the first place.
Her ears popped, then the sound came back as she heard the alarm going off in the prison, and the sound of ponies running. She looked around, frantic as her cell door opened and she was tackled to the floor. She screamed as she was beat and subdued by three guards who forced a muzzle on her, and chained her up like an animal. She kept struggling against them, screaming loudly, her voice blending in with the rest of the ruckus around her.
"I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her!" Upper Crust was in tears while she kept screaming from being beat again and again by batons. She was dragged away by the chains, her own blood smearing on the floor as she was dragged down the hallway toward the lower floors. She hit her head on the way down two flights of stairs, too weak to walk or to get up from all the beatings. Her head trauma was making her see things that were not there; at least, she thought they weren't.
As she was being dragged through the prison, Upper Crust faded in and out of consciousness, her eyes falling on a tall mare with no eyes or mouth, her mane flowing behind her like the princesses of Equestria. The mare seemed to be made of the night sky itself. Upper crust tried to keep her eyes open, her head hurt so bad as she was still dragged across the hard cement floor. However, her eyes had closed after seeing the mysterious, faceless mare a few more times.
Floating. Floating gently through the space she was in. She opened her eyes to see she was in a black area. There was no ground, no sky, no anything. She let herself float, she did not care. She was in pain, pain from--she can't remember. Was she dead? No, she could still feel pain. Warm? what was so warm? She looked around in the darkness but could not find anything. She sighed. Whatever this warmth was, it was nice. She did not feel pain when she felt the warmth.
"Tantabus is here. Tantabus can help." A soft whisper filled her ears. Upper Crust did not look around again, she just let herself float.
"Please, help me. Whoever you are. I want to get out of this prison, I want to live free. I did not kill my husband." Upper Crust sounded desperate as she began to cry.
"Tantabus will help. If you pay Tantabus when Tantabus wants repayment." Without any form of hesitation, Upper Crust screamed into the darkness.
"Yes! I will give you whatever you want, just please, help me!"
Upper Crust awoke in a dark room with one bed, one toilet and one sink. There was a single window above her, the moonlight shone through the bars onto her. The pain she was feeling was gone, she had somehow been healed. She stood up, looking around her.
"Was that all a dream?" She whispered to herself. She heard someone walking toward the door she was behind. The footsteps were soft and gently compared to the guards who normally patrolled the halls. The door slowly opened, Upper Crust could not help but tremble and flinch. When no one attacked her, she looked at the door. The mare that she saw earlier, the mare without a face, stood there.
"Tantabus has helped. Follow Tantabus" Whispers in Upper Crust's mind swirled around. She slowly made her way to follow the mare. As they were walking through the prison, Upper Crust saw all the guards and inmates were lowly husks on the floor, no blood in sight.
"Did you do all of this?" She asked the mare beside her. Tantabus nodded its head.
"Tantabus wanted blood."
Upper Crust stopped for a moment. She thought back to her cell, where the liquid--blood--was being drank up. Her cellmate was bone dry, a husk of nothing but organs, bones and skin. Her thoughts went back to her husband.
"Jet Set!"Her own screams echoes in her mind as she remembered the pieces of her husband laying there, shriveled husks. Like the ponies in the prison.
"You--" Upper Crust glared at the strange mare. "You killed my husband!" She screamed, her voice echoed off of the walls. Tantabus stopped, looking back at Upper Crust.
He was negative. Its reply infuriated the yellow mare more.
"He did not deserve to die! He was an amazing stallion. Full of love and dreams. Not to mention he was my only source of happiness! You took him away from me and now I am taking the blame, For you!" Upper Crust Charged at the Tentabus, her horn glowing bright, shooting magic at the creature.
"Do not attack me pony" Tantabus appeared behind her, after disappearing from its original spot. Upper crust turned, shooting a blast of energy at Tantabus, the blast missing and destroying part of the floor; revealing the furnace on the lower floor. Tantabus disappeared in a puff of shadow, only to reappear behind Upper Crust. It sent Upper Crust flying toward the hole in floor she had made earlier. Upper Crust landed, her hind legs dangling over the edge of the hole, she could feel the heat of the furnace below her. She struggled to climb up onto the main part of the floor, her front hooves slipping. Her prison jumper got caught on a piece of metal which held her from climbing up.
"Help!" she screamed loudly, hoping someone was still alive and they would hear her. "Help me please!" Tantabus approached her.
"I tried to."
Running hoof steps could be heard as two stallions ran into the room. They were guards from the stallion sector. They gasped in horror at all the husks of both guards and inmates. The older guard looked over at Upper Crust, seeing her struggling to climb back onto the floor. Upper Crust looked at them, her eyes wide.
"Please! Help!" She screamed over to them, her face drenched with tears. She was shaking and getting weaker every time she tried to climb up. The guard rushed over to her directions, skidding to a halt when he saw the floor collapsing.
"Hurry! please!" She cried out, scrambling to hold onto the edge. The floor collapsed out from under her, sending her falling toward the open-top furnace. The last thing she saw before the flames engulfed her was the guard looking down at her in horror, and the Tantabus standing beside him.
She landed in the furnace, the fires engulfing her quickly, her skin boiling and melting off as she screamed bloody murder.
"Tantabus! Tantabus! You killed my husband! Tantabus!" She screamed the chant as she rolled around in the furnace, immense pain filling her body while her fur, flesh and muscle melted off her body, leaving a gooey mess in the furnace itself.
The remaining guards from the stallion section rushed over to help the clean up. The furnace has mysteriously gone out after Upper Crust has died and was finished burning. Leaving nothing but a pile of burnt and melted pony laying in the furnace coals and an overwhelming smell of burnt flesh and boiled blood. Tantabus did leave a mess. But what smart pony will believe the insane rantings of a mare who slaughtered an entire prison?
