Chapter 5:
One Thousand Guards And One Prisoner
Meanwhile, dressed in warm clothing, Derpy flapped her wings through the air, happily riding the wind currents before nearly bopping her head against the doors set into a cavern on one of the snow-tipped mountains. As she banked in the air, the wall-eyed Pegasus was suddenly surrounded by spears.
"Hello!" Derpy replied in a cheerful tone. Her optimism confused the Minotaurs holding the spears long enough for her to reach into her bag and pull out a scroll, "Special Delivery from Master Luna to Captain Iron Will?".
The Minotaur guards glanced at each other, before lowering their spears, nudging the gray Pegasus through the doors and into the vast cavern that lay underneath the stone.
"Iron Will, sir! This pony has a message for you!" one of the guards bellowed like a bull.
The biggest of the Minotaurs stomped up, his fur cobalt blue in the limited light.
"Oh…" Derpy whispered, tilting her head in awe at the Minotaurs' golden horns, which stood out among the other Minotaurs and their normal white horns.
Derpy always considered herself to be an optimist; someone who could just look on the bright side of life, and assume everything was going to be okay. It wasn't as easy to think that when Iron Will read her message. In fact, it would be easy to say that she was frightened. But not just by the guards, but the thought of Tai-Lung himself. What kind of creature was he that he needed these kind of guards, maybe even more?
"WHAT?! Double the Guard? Extra precautions?! Iron Will's prison may not be adequate?!" Iron Will boomed, his angry voice alone nearly knocking the smile off Derpy's face.
Iron Will threw the message aside and bore down on Derpy, who shivered as she tried to keep up a small smile.
"You doubt Iron Will's prison security?!" He asked.
"Of course not. Master Luna does. I'm just a messenger," Derpy assured him, looking around.
Iron Will hummed, the anger fading from his eyes as he regarded the wall-eyed Pegasus.
"Then let Iron Will give you a message for your 'Master Luna'," Iron Will declared, seizing Derpy by the nape and pulling her deeper into the prison.
"Escape from Tartarus Prison… is IMPOSSIBLE!" Iron Will said as he and Derpy walked onto a bridge, where Derpy could see over the edge.
Derpy swallowed at the height. Bridges crisscrossed below like spider webs, each one stacked with Minotaurs decked out in armor and carrying weapons that looked like they could shear through the mountain itself.
Iron Will laughed at Derpy's shocked expression and patted her back roughly, dislodging some of her feathers and sending some of them drifting down into the pit.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Iron Will demanded.
"It's very impressive. Very impressive," Derpy replied, her voice quiet, but trying to remain cheerful. But she was going more nervous by the Minotaurs' actions.
"One way in. One way out. One thousand Guards…And one prisoner," Iron Will continued indicating the rough faces of the guards all around them.
"Right. Except that prisoner is … Tai Lung….," Derpy said with a nod as she noticed some of the guards still glowering at her, and tried to grin sheepishly at them. She just didn't know what she was doing wrong to make them so cranky.
"Take Us Down!" Iron Will ordered as he and Derpy reached a wooden elevator and descended to the lowest level of the prison while Iron Will was laughing.
"Behold, Tai Lung!" Iron Will declared, opening the elevator to the lowermost floor.
Tai Lung's 'cell' was more of an island in the middle of the pit, barely big enough to stand and move in a circle around. In the middle of the island sat Tai Lung, a large shell encasing his chest, with jade spikes extending from his back. Both his arms were bound and chained to heavy boulders that hung over the edge of his platform. Tai Lung's head was bowed, his arms limp. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing.
"Very… nice. Can I just stay here?" Derpy asked, turning to Iron Will with a nervous grin.
Iron Will chuckled at her barely hidden fear.
"Nothing to fear, little pony. It's perfectly safe," He assured her.
Despite his soft tone, he still shoved the Pegasus onto the rickety bridge that led to Tai Lung's prison. As Derpy reluctantly walked towards the bound criminal, Iron Will's voice boomed behind her, "Crossbows at the ready!".
Derpy stared around in fear as massive crossbows – more ballista than crossbows – locked into place, aimed at the apparently unconscious snow leopard. Derpy was already scared beyond belief. As Iron Will joined her on the island, he only made it harder for her to conceal her fear.
"Hey, tough guy did you hear? Celestia's finally going to give someone the Celestial Scroll and it's not going to be you!" Iron Will barked at the bound snow leopard.
Derpy winced, "What are you doing? Please don't make him mad!" She pleaded.
"What's he going to do about it? Iron Will has him completely immobilized," the Minotaur demanded.
To prove his point, Iron Will slammed his hoof onto Tai Lung's tail. Derpy winced, holding her own tail with worry, but Tai Lung didn't even wince. Not even when Iron Will brought his head closer to the bound leopard.
"Aw, did Iron Will step on the wittle kitties tail? Aww…" Iron Will mocked.
"I… think I've seen enough. I'll tell Master Luna she has nothing to worry about …," Derpy insisted, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.
"No, she doesn't!" Iron Will confirmed as both he and the Pegasus left the cell.
"Okay, I'll tell her. Can we please go now?" Derpy asked a little nervously.
As they left, neither of them noticed the Pegasus feather softly land right in front of Tai Lung
Tai Lung opened his eyes, both golden orbs burning with anger. It had been hard not telling the silly Minotaur off. But that wouldn't have helped his situation. He was waiting on something that would. Then his eyes flicked down to the feather that had fallen before him. Moving his tail, he wrapped it around the feather, and pulled it closer. He looked up with a grim smile.
Author's Note: A Valentines Day Gift from to my friends on Fanfiction.