The hall Glass River walked through was the mouth of a marble beast. Statues and stained glass uniformly stood along the edges like dull ensnaring teeth. His iron hooves echoed like a thunderclap with each methodical step, undampened by the impossibly long red carpet which imitated the chamber’s tongue. He had been in the vices of the EUP and royalty before, often for the same reason. He strode to the three that commanded the jaws. It was them that decided who they closed around and who they let free. Glass River was going to defy the jaws whether or not they were around him.

Around a massive blue-tinted crystal table, they sat light from the stained glass windows illuminating them in various shades. Field Marshall Stellar Solstice a dull blue, 5-star General Point Blank a scalding scarlet, and Princess Luna a benevolent violet. Each sharing a look of impatience and annoyance that they were called from their duties. Though none of them said it, they all projected expectation.

“So.” Stellar Solstice started, ashing his thick cigar freely into an ashtray that rose from the table. His stature was hunched, bent from the decades of experience in service. He’d started a lowly grunt himself, and was now in the highest position in the land, save for the princesses themselves. “You called us in here.” He adjusted his beige cap, which looked chewed by age. “You mind telling us why, Colonel?”

Glass River blinked slowly. He wanted to bait out an outburst from the 5-star.

“Celestia damn it, Glass!” Point Blank slammed his hoof on the round transparent table, every medal on his chest clinking in protest. “If this is about the war with the zebras you had better not tell us you’re abstaining from that right before we strike the final blow!”

Glass smirked, just as planned. “I am, General.”

Point Blank’s face was one of explosive anger, his mouth souring to a bitter scowl. He opened it, ready to put the Colonel in his place but a hoof from Princess Luna calmed him. “Why would you refuse? Your team has made substantial progress. Wouldn’t you want to finish what you started with them?” She folded her hooves on the table, her mane flowing. The bags under her eyes demanded rest, but the gleam in her worn eyes demanded an answer.

“You’re right, Luna,” Glass replied with a nod “I would like to finish what I started with them. However, I feel that they can finish without me. I have credible intel that there’s a threat to Equestria that needs my attention more.”

The three leaned forward in their seats, perched attentively to hear what could possibly send the Infinite Swordsman out of line. Solstice spoke up, his tone weary and serious. “What would this threat be? Lieutenant General Concrete put away a threat to tranquility. Are you meaning to tell me that there’s something more out there?”

Point Blank scoffed, adjusting his cap. “You’ve got to be joking. There might be something comparable out there, just like there could be at any point in time.” He shifted in his seat. “If you ask me, I think that an entire nation of zebras trying to break down our border is a credible threat that demands your attention.”

Luna raised a hoof again. “Let’s hear what this threat might be gentlecolts, hm?” She nodded at Glass.

“Thank you, Luna.” He started, straightening himself. “What I say is not a joke, General. I have reliable intel that Trixie may break out of Tartarus by killing everything inside and breaking out.”

The tense air multiplied, as though it were manipulating gravity. Suddenly, the nation weighed on all of their shoulders and regret formed around promoting Concrete. In sealing Trixie away, she possibly made her foe stronger by an impossible measure. Glass River realized this as a possibility, but understood that she wouldn’t ask him personally to help if she wanted to help Trixie. While the named Colonel knew this, the three jaws of Equestria did not.

Point Blank looked pale and Solstice hollow. Princess Luna, once drowsy, was now completely attentive. Glass River read the room and began again, still retaining neutrality in his voice. “I know what you’re all thinking. That Concrete should be punished for this potential world-ending scenario, and while normally I would agree, I have to advise against it now.”

Point Blank nearly combusted. “Why the hell should we not!? She potentially cost us everything, and you yourself didn’t want to go help her defeat Trixie when she came up! What reason would you possibly have to stick up for her now?” Luna didn’t attempt to calm him and stared on with a similar conviction.

“Because she realized this around the same time she asked him for help.” Stellar exhaled a cloud of smog, leaning back in his seat. “She’s already given her Pink Heart to the Colonel here, so she recognizes her shortcoming too. We shouldn’t punish her more for something she couldn’t plan ahead for. She was given very little time to plan an operation, the wrong team to execute it, and was given explicit orders from Celestia herself to send Trixie there if things got out of hand, which they did.”

“Thank you, Field Marshall.” Glass nodded, receiving a wink from the old stallion in exchange. The Colonel was surprised that he could piece that together, though he wouldn’t be in the position he was in without being able to read ponies and their intentions. “His thoughts are mine exactly, and upon hearing from Concrete, I promised that I would help her and that I wouldn’t tell Celestia about this.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Luna asked. She was right to object. Why would anything being told to her not be able to be told to her sister? They both had equal sovereign power over Equestria and thusly had an equal right to know what their prized soldier was objecting for.

The swordsman lowered his head. “The interaction that she and I had insulted me personally, so within the space I could resist her and still protect the kingdom, I did. She asked me to tell Celestia, and I refused. So I tell you now, and I expect that you’ll tell her that I refuse to participate in the zebra campaign, but not any reason why. As far as she knows, I didn’t give you a reason either.”

“You’re asking us to lie to the princess?” Point Blank remarked. “For no other reason than a personal spat?” He shook his head.

“I’m asking you to lie because of a promise. One that was made, I remind you, to protect Equestria.” He raised his head.

Luna leaned into her seat, hooves clasped around her chin in thought. “This isn’t unusual for Glass River to protest; she wouldn’t bat an eye or even try and refute him. We’re close to winning that war, and have the rest of Solar Team 8 anyway.”

Point Blank turned to her, mouth agape. “You can’t be serious. We’d be lying to her majesty!”

Luna turned her eyes to him. “Your loyalty is commendable. However, we’d be telling an inconsequential lie that won’t be questioned. She’d be none the wiser and the nation would be safer if Trixie does break out.”

“Fine!” He folded his hooves across his chest. “I’d vote against this, but there’s two of you and one of me. Even then, the Colonel can just say that our version of the story we tell Celestia is wrong anyway! Why did we ever give him the right to refuse orders anyway?”

Solstice interjected. “Because he’s better out of line on our side than in line with any other.” He ground his cigar down, finishing his last puff from it. To him, the conversation was over long before this.

They all rose from their seats, light dancing across them. Glass River bowed and rose back to his hooves with a salute. “Best case scenario, nothing happens.”

“That would be best, yes.” Solstice said, matching his salute.

“It would, and maybe we can get you back before the war’s over.” Point Blank sighed.

“However long it is, we wish you luck Colonel.” Luna nodded, before taking her leave with the other two.

Glass sighed. The jaws had let him go of their own accord. Another success, though this was easier than any other time. As he walked out of the halls, his own footsteps closed in on his psyche, each thundering step drawing in closer on his mind. He was about to transfer himself from the EUP’s jaws to Hell’s.

“Trixie does not want to kill you.” I shook my head. After all this time in excruciating exile, hundreds of years at that, it struck me as odd that he’d only want death and not vengeance as well. If I were sent to Tartarus by Celestia, not hard to imagine, and was atomized and stuffed in a bag of bandages by her, I’d want to disassemble her. Her entire kingdom too, for that matter.

There’s another thing that didn’t quite add up. He’d killed tens of thousands of ponies, strong ponies at that. If he were really trying to prevent some sort of otherworldly creature from destroying the solar system, he’d unite all the forces under the sun. Killing them on such a scale would only lessen the odds to win.

I scratched my neck and glanced to my left. Only a sinking onyx greeted me. To my right, a slightly darker black, but still nothing discernible. I could only see myself and Arkon, but I had the sinking feeling that the unknown hid something distant at any direction from me. My barriers might’ve been intended as a detriment, but they’re coming out to my benefit. These pink royal barriers were the only thing between me and whatever unspeakable horrors dwelled here.

The one that did speak, however, spoke again. His voice thundering from all directions. “What!?” I recoiled as I felt that familiar pain beyond words. “You can leave here! You can escape Hell itself and resurrect your sister! You could have everything you’ve ever wanted and more with my power. Why won’t you kill me and take it!?”

I choked a pained cry as a response. I could feel a grip around me, adding to the already indescribable pain. It pressed into me, nearly popping my head off. Then all at once it stopped, and left no remnant. “A better question.” I hacked, blood splattering across my barrier. The grip must’ve punctured my organs. It didn't matter. If Arkon wanted what I suspected he did, he wouldn’t kill me. “Why haven’t you killed Trixie yet?”

Arkon’s laugh echoed across the infinite dark expanse. It rattled my very bones, embedding themselves deeper into my organs. The being’s face contorted into a twisted smile. “You’re smarter than I thought.”

“That doesn’t answer her question.” I slammed my eyes shut, enduring the pain coming from everywhere inside me.

“You haven’t answered mine either. Why not kill me and leave?” His freakish sneer barely straightened. The heat coming through my barriers was growing hotter.

“And she’s already answered you. Trixie doesn’t want to kill you.” I didn’t feel any pain, at least not beyond the internal one. I had expected that he’d tear me in half and piece me back together. Instead, I only felt the warmth grow more intense.

“WHY DON’T YOU!?” There the pain was. It was equally insufferable, but it felt weaker somehow. Instead of every nerve sending a signal of mortal pain, they sent one of near-mortal pain. It was far from tolerable, but it meant that Arkon was either growing weaker or I was growing more resistant.

“Trixie feels that you aren’t being honest with her. That you’re up to something. You could kill her, take her form and the Amulet and free yourself. What are you up to that you won’t do just that?” I placed a hoof on the bloodstain of my innermost barrier, then yanked it back when I felt it starting to boil.

There was no reply. Arkon’s form only swelled, his contents threatening to burst and potentially annihilate me, even through my protection. I saw visions within my mind of my bones piercing through my skin, each one a knife carving me. I saw myself, splayed open burning all the while hearing my own screams climbing in pitch as I saw myself die. This was Arkon’s reply. I could almost feel it, as though it had happened to me dozens of times.

He was right. He was giving me the opportunity to claim all the power I’d ever dream of. Certainly enough to not only bring Sabrina back, but eliminate the world if I so chose. All I had to do was kill him. Then I realized it. How was I going to kill him? I looked down, and there was a familiar pink shell.

Odd. Before I came into Tartarus, the barrier wasn’t closed off on the ground, but here it was below me. If I was going to kill Arkon, I’d have to remove my barriers. Within that same instant, he could seize upon me and do just what I questioned him of. He wasn’t a hero, even if his threat was imagined or not! He was a villain to end villains! I was nothing more than the Amulet returned to him. He didn’t care whether or not I escaped or conquered death. He wanted to be death itself!

“Arkon. Trixie will not kill you. She will find her own way out of Tartarus.” I stood straight, only to return to a pained hunch after pain shot through my body. I expected Arkon to do anything to me that would bring me as close to death as possible, but I didn’t fear him anymore. He couldn’t kill me. Even if it took me years, even if I felt unnameable pain all throughout, I would free myself from Hell.

The heat evaporated the blood in front of me, and a sickening iron smell haunted my nose. I was breathing in my own blood. Arkon’s form had been scattering itself before, but it had always returned stable soon after. It had become scattered, but it hadn’t returned itself. As light started to peek out from under his bandages, another thought had occurred to me.

There was nopony else here. Maybe it was because Tartarus was as close to infinite as something could be, or maybe… Arkon had slain everything here. These barriers were the only things protecting me from hell itself. Were it not for them, I would’ve been dead. Worse than dead, my body would be used to bring about the apocalypse!

“There’s no escape from here, Trixie. I am your escape, your only option.” His glowing unstable form approached me, the heat growing unbearable as I could smell my fur burning.

“You’ve lied to her about your past, and Trixie knows you’re lying to her about your plans. What’s to say that you’re not lying now?” I backed up as far as I could within my pink sphere.

“Nothing. You can trust me and leave, or distrust me and stay here for eternity with me.” His form now swam across my entire field of vision. He was above me, below me, all around me. Pink runes amid a brown sea was my sight.

“Wrong. Trixie can trust you and die, or she can distrust you and escape, and see you tortured the entire time while she tries to find a way out.” I returned to the center of my bubble, focusing my magic to regenerate my wounds, but finding no success. Whatever I repaired was torn apart directly after.

“How could you torture me within there?” Laughter came from all around.

“Trixie has the Amulet, and will always have it. The thing you want the most will always be hers!” I felt my eyes begin to melt, only to be held together by Arkon’s unseen force. I ignored the pain, feeling beyond it with the knowledge I can win.

“But I always have you here, is that not the same?” His voice sounded distorted, like it was coming through water.

“Exactly. You will always have Trixie here, but you will never escape. You’ll always be here with me. You’ll lose Arkon. And when Trixie’s gone, you’ll be reminded of how you lost everything twice!” The glow, initially dull, was now blinding. Light radiated from all around me with the brightness of the sun. Arkon was about to…!

Glass River leaned on a cliff face, the sun baking him inside his black scale armor. He’d been greedily drinking down water for hours staring into the canyon wall before him, stopping to shake sand from his body occasionally. Concrete had given him directions to this specific spot, and he could still see shards of molten plastic embedded in the walls on his way here.

He knew this was the right spot, but he’d been positioned here with his tent just a brief walk from the wall that held Tartarus for almost three weeks. He’d lived off of rations and MRE’s before, but even then he could usually scavenge the local area for some food to make it interesting. There was nothing in this desert except sand and the occasional skull pepper. That novelty lasted all of one bite.

He chuckled at the thought of some innumerably powerful threat coming out and seeing him sputtering for air, steam practically pouring out his ears. At least it’d be somepony else out here. The Colonel empathized with the Corporal that patrolled this very area. He remembered being a young recruit and having to do punishment assignments like this one. Though, he had gotten a lucky break in the form of a sword. Burst never got his.

The autopsy ruled it a murder, with the time of death before Solar Team 12’s. Concrete wasn’t in that area then, only half of the team that she ordered to be there. He let out a sigh. There was no way she could have known he was dead. He thought that he should probably apologize.

He shook his head. Concrete knew better. She must’ve known that he didn’t know better about her knowing better. He shook his head again. He’d give anything to hear Major Overdrive play her cello right about now. She always knew how to play her emotions in the strings, sometimes triumphant or screeching melodies of anger. Most times it was just to fill dead air like this.

He chuckled. He’d give his sword just to hear one of Lieutenant Hindsight’s jokes. That stallion always knew how to make a heavy situation lighter, or a light situation enjoyable. He sighed, or one of Captain Bear Claw’s war stories. He could always feel like he was there in some legendary fight. Glass liked hearing them even though he was a war story himself, and could fill a shelf with his experiences. It made him feel like a foal again to hear Bear’s gruff voice weave a tale of battle, the stallion illuminated by firelight.

He sniffed. Or have one of Sergeant 1st Class Apple Turnover’s rations they made before an expedition, or the ones he’d make with whatever they had on the road. The whole team would always laugh when he described anything with that thick Hayseed Swamp accent of his. He sounded like he’d eaten nothing but cigarettes since he got his cutie mark.

Glass wiped a tear from his eye. He missed most of all that steely conviction of Lieutenant Colonel Diamond Dust. Solar Team 8 was already a crack fighting force, but they were stronger, smarter, and faster with her around. She was like a mother to the group. One of the few unicorns from Cloudsdale, she’d faced adversity as long as she could remember. She was used to burden, and saw to it that they were too.

Though, under all that toughness and determination, lay a heart of flesh and blood like the rest of them. He missed his whole team, he missed Equestria. Less than that but still present, he missed action. A great war with the zebra nation, and here he was watching a wall. He might as well have been watching a wall of paint dry for weeks, or a patch of grass grow.

With a nod, he packed his stuff and started for his tent. He was done with the Badlands, and he was headed back to the frontline of the war, where they needed him. He wondered if there was even a war left, or if they’d won and had already celebrated. Surely they’d save some cider for him, or some of that wine Turnover was aging.

A deafening explosion behind him drew his attention. Rune inscribed boulders hurled themselves at him, meeting the end of a sword, which flurried them to glowing pink sand. He heard chuckling, low at first but rising to a series of blood curdling screams that barely resembled a laugh. The dust had yet to settle, but there in the dust was a figure, a sickening crimson glow lighting all the fallout.

The EUP had let him from its jaws voluntarily. But whatever this was had broken every tooth of Hell to break from its grip. All alone, his blue glowing blade was challenging a bloodied ruby. The Infinite Swordsman held the world on his shoulders in that moment. This was his last stand.

Author's Note

This was one of my better chapters, I'd say. I could just see it.
That being said, how did you feel about it?
This chapter was proofread by RTStephens thank you once again!