Chapter XIV
The Cave
Day 81
"Just one more batch, and we are done for the day!" happily announced Rarity her horn glowed from the detection of a batch of gems in the ground. Adam reluctantly followed suit, he pulled a cart filled with about a dozen bags filled with various gems. The fact the he pulled the cart through a snow covered field and was the one who dug for the gems, made the job hard to bare.
"How did I end up doing this?" he mumbled. He should observe the construction of his new home, not go gem hunting with the one pony he had least in common with.
"Right here." pointed Rarity to a spot on the ground. Adam quickly took the shovel from the cart and began to dig. The human always wondered why Rarity couldn't do this herself, she was the one that needed them for her dresses. Adam continued to dig until he hit something solid. The human dropped the shovel and pulled out the solid object; a sapphire the size of a baseball.
The human still had trouble accepting that gemstones are extremely common in Equestria.
Adam and Rarity have finished and started to pack their supplies and gems into the cart, Adam began to pull the cart, as Rarity walked beside him.
"So, Adam," began the unicorn. "I've always wanted to ask, but, how was it like making-out with Fluttershy?" she slyly asks.
"Why do you want to know that?" asked Adam, not wanting to answer the question.
"Fluttershy is one of my close friends, and because I assume it was the first time you kissed a non-human, I want to know how it felt." explained Rarity.
"It's very hard to explain, it felt normal, yet different at the same time." Adam tried his best to explain.
"Must have been pretty strange, huh?" Rarity asks.
"At first." shrugged Adam.
"Tell me Adam," asked the unicorn. "do you have the same parts as a stallion?"
"Why do you ask?" asked the human, completely caught off guard by the question.
"Oh nothing darling, I was-" she is suddenly interrupted by a huge glow coming from her horn. "Oh my..."
"What is it Rarity?"
"GEMSTONE! HUGE ONE! THIS WAY!" exclaimed the unicorn, quickly sprinting off. Adam quickly grabs the shovel, following Rarity, leaving the cart behind.
Adam follows Rarity towards a cave, where Rarity's horn glows even brighter. "It's right in there!" pointed the unicorn.
"I don't know...I have a bad feeling about this." nervously explained the human.
"What can possibly go wrong, darling, it's just a cave, once we get the gemstone, we can leave." assured Rarity.
Adam reluctantly follows Rarity inside the cave, her horn lighting the way. They go deeper and deeper in the cave until Rarity stops in her tracks and points to a rock wall. "Right there!"
"But that's a solid wall of rock! My shovel is useless to break through it!" exclaimed Adam.
"Then I guess I'll have to do the work myself!" sighed Rarity "Move out of the way Adam!" she orders. She takes a step back as her horn glows even brighter. Suddenly, a bright beam of magic shoots out from it as it hits the rock wall, causing a huge crack to appear and exposing something as equally bright underneath. "My word! It's a diamond!"
"And a huge one at that!" exclaimed the human, as he goes up to the crack exposing the gemstone underneath the wall. Unfortunately, the moment the human touches the wall, a crack suddenly appears and begins slither it's way up to the cave roof, causing the entire place to start shaking. Both Adam and Rarity are scared.
"What's going on?" exclaimed a confused and frightened Rarity.
"CAVE IN!" the human yells as tackles the unicorn to the floor, using his body to shield her.
Soon, the roof falls on them as the shaking continues...everything goes dark.
Adam found himself on a white bed, under the sheets, bright sunlight showed through so everything was well light despite being under a bed sheet. He looked ahead to see Mary lying next to him and smiling.
"Mary?" asked a stunned Adam, is this real? Is this a fantasy?
"Adam?" suddenly said Mary in Rarity's voice.
"Huh?!"
"ADAM!? ADAM!?" yelled Rarity to the unconscious human. "COME ON! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!" she yells trying to shake the human awake. Adam suddenly gasps for air and shoots up awake, covered in dust and with a cut on his forehead.
"How long as I out?" exclaimed Adam, looking around, assessing the situation as he gets up on his two feet.
"I don't know...there's no natural light in here." the unicorn explained, also covered in dust, with a few scrapes on her body, her glowing horn being their only source of light.
Adam then sees a huge wall of fallen rocks blocking the way the came from. "Damn."
"What do we do know? How are we going to get out of here! Of all the worst possible things this is-" Rarity is quickly silenced by the human, who put his hand on her mouth.
"This is NOT the time to panic!" spat the human. "Now listen, we are going to go deeper into the cave, and we are going to find a back way out, and it would be easier for both of us if you can just SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN!" the human then slowly removes his hand to let the unicorn talk.
"A-Are you sure?" quietly asked a doubtful Rarity.
"Does it look like we have a choice." answered the human.
Minutes later, Adam and Rarity are on the move, getting deeper and deeper into the cave, Rarity's horn lighting the way.
Suddenly, Rarity's ears perk up as she hears something. "Adam, do you hear that?"
Adam listens closely, he could hear the faint sound of flowing water. "Yes, yes I do." They both quickly run towards the source, until they reach what appears to be an underground river in a large rock chamber.
"Oh thank Celestia! I can finally get myself clean!" exclaimed Rarity, examining her dust covered fur and mane.
"Not just that," added Adam. "but we found our way out!"
"What do you mean?" asked Rarity.
"If we follow the river downstream, it could lead us to an exit." explained the human.
"Oh good!" exclaimed the unicorn with relief. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rarity's ears perk up again as she hears a strange roaring sound getting closer and closer to them. "You have got to be kidding me!" she mumbles.
"What is it?" asked the human, trying to figure out what Rarity means by what she said, soon he begins to hear the sound and knows exactly what it means. "Get to higher ground! NOW!" he orders. Adam and Rarity quickly run up an incline, as the source of the sound reveals itself; a surge of water.
The water levels quickly begin to rise as the rising waters quickly catch up to the pair, as the incline gets steeper and steeper. "Adam wait! I don't usually run this fast!" complained Rarity. Adam turns around and reaches for her hoof, but before he has a chance to grab it, the surging waters catch up to the unicorn and sweeps her away.
"RARITY!" yelled Adam as he sees the unicorn struggle to stay afloat, the cave growing dark as Rarity is the only source of light for the human.
Adam quickly takes off his long coat and scarf, and dives into the water to get her. He sees nothing but the black abyss ahead.
"RARITY?! RARITY?!" yelled Adam while quickly compressing Rarity's chest. "DON'T DIE ON ME! NOT HERE! NOT NOW!" he continues. "DIE WHEN YOU'RE AN OLD MARE WITH SPIKE AT YOUR BEDSIDE!" Rarity then suddenly coughs up some water as she finally regains consciousness.
"What happened?" asked a soaking wet Rarity, her mane flat and fur matted from the water.
"I just saved your life." explained Adam. Rarity then uses her horn to light up the cave, she sees that they're on a small rocky bank next to rushing water, along with some of Adam's clothes laying on the rocks to dry, the unicorn then realizes something and quickly turns to the human; he's naked.
"Are you?-"
"Yes I am." answered the human.
"Is that?-"
"Yes."
"It's smaller than I thought-"
"RARITY!" the human snapped at Rarity.
"Sorry." Rarity sheepishly apologizes. She then sees the human sit right next to her. "So what now?" she asks.
"We wait until the waters calm down, then we follow it, as originally planned." Adam explains.
The both of them just sit there in complete silence, until Rarity suddenly speaks up. "I'm sorry-" blurted the unicorn.
"Wait until we're back in Ponyville." interrupted the human. The human then gets up to check that his clothes are dry. "Well, at least my pants have fully dried." he states. He then puts them on and lays on the ground. "We might be waiting a while, so I suggest we get some rest."
Rarity silently agrees, as the unicorn proceeds to curl up next to the human for warmth. "Tell me a story." she began.
"What? Why?" Adam was confused.
"To calm me down." explained the unicorn. "Maybe something from your childhood?"
The human sighed. "I know one story that is similar what we are going through."
Rarity listened intently.
"It was back when I was ten years old back in childhood home in the orchids of Tennessee." began his tale. "Everyday after school, me and a fellow friend by the name of Zedekiah would walk back to our homes together, he was two years younger than me so I felt like it was responsibility to walk him home. One day, we saw this cave by the side of a hill, an old mining shaft from what we could see. As kids you are naturally curious and adventurous so we obviously walked in to explore."
Rarity continued to listen, she felt more at ease and calm as she curled up tighter.
"But during our exploration my friend slipped and fell down another shaft, he broke his leg pretty badly."
"What did you do?"
"I found some rope lying around and pulled him up, I managed to carry him all way into town where he was finally treated."
Little did Adam knew, but Rarity started to nod off to sleep.
"He never showed up to school ever since that day, it was until about ten years later that I finally reunited with ol' Zed. He was now a clerk at a store and walked with a cane...I felt bad seeing him hobble like that...felt responsible and-" was interrupted by the sound of soft snorts. "Good night Rarity." he said as he decided to also sleep.
He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
Sparta, Tennessee 1885
"It's not your fault Adam...don't worry." assured Adam's friend Zed as they walked through town together.
"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be walking with a limp."
"Must you always blame yourself?" he asked. "I swear...every time you did something bad or something did not go your way, you start to blame yourself or take it badly."
Adam did not say a word, he knew his friend was right.
"So...how's university?" Zed asked.
"It is very interesting...New York is so much different from here..." he stated.
"You have been a really good friend to me Adam..." Zed placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile. "I'm glad you managed to start making something of yourself, away from here, away from your past."
"It wasn't easy."
"Nothing ever is."
Adam wakes up to the sound of rustling, giggling and footsteps surrounding them. Adam tries to find the source, but can't see in the pitch black cave. He suddenly feels something hard hit him on the back of the head before blacking out.
"Adam? Are you okay?" asked Rarity, as Adam starts to come to. Adam awakens again to find himself in what appears to be a mine, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, his feet barely touching the ground. He then sees Rarity in front of him, tied up spread eagle against the cave wall, scared.
"Hey look! The pony and the monkey awake!" yelled a strange voice. Adam then sees a trio of dog-like creatures, one short, one tall and one large, with huge arms and short legs.
The tall one makes his way towards Rarity. "So we meet again pony." he hisses. He begins to stroke Rarity's chin with his broken nails.
"Don't you dare touch me you brute!" snapped the unicorn.
The tall one then motions to the large one, who then immediately punches the human on the gut. The human grunts in pain. "Don't hurt him!" Rarity yells.
"Do as we say, and monkey won't get hurt." once again hissed the tall one. Rarity just wants to spit on the dog creature's face, she was held captive by them once, and she promised herself it wouldn't happen again.
"Do what they say Rarity!" yelled Adam, still in pain. "For both our sakes, just do what they want." he pleads.
"But all they want is to use me just so they can find their gems!" explained Rarity, starting to feel guilty for getting them into this mess.
"Then give them what they want!" the human snaps. "Judging these brutes, they will never stop until they get what they want!"
Rarity then turns to the tall one. "Okay fine, I'll dig for your stupid gems, just don't hurt my friend." she pleads, each word leaving a bad taste in her mouth. The leader nods to the larger one, who proceeds to cut the human down. The human crashes on the ground.
The other two then free Rarity and carry her against her will to the dig site, while the large one forcibly drags the human to his cell.
Rarity was subjected to what she would describe as slave labor by the Diamond Dogs, they harnessed her to a cart, forced her to dig for gems and whipped and slapped her repeatedly.
"Work pony!" they yelled at her.
But she took it as much as she could, for both her and Adam's safety.
"FASTER!" yelled another as he whipped her rump with a riding crop.
Rarity pulled the heavy cart with as much strength as she could muster. She looked down at her hooves to see a horrifying sight; the were dirty and chipped. "My hooves!" she cried, before being immediately silenced by a hard smack to her face.
"BE QUIET! More digging!"
"And if I refuse to put up with this indignity?" snarled the unicorn.
"Monkey gets to play knife game with us." chuckled the leader of the pack.
Rarity just growled but reluctantly continued to do as told, putting up with the indignity for the safety of a friend.
Spot then walked up to the pack leader. "So...when can we have 'fun' with pony?" Spot eagerly asked.
The leader know what he was talking about and laughed. "Once this mine has no more gems...we will go home and bring pony to be our toy."
"Where she gives us 'mouth present' when asked."
"And force her to eat and bathe in our stuff." he gave an evil laugh. "But until then...she works and works and works until all gems found."
"Or she drops dead." Spot laughed. "What about monkey?"
"We kill him...slowly...in front of pony."
"The bloody the better?"
"Yes...the bloody the better."
They both watched Rarity work with evil grins...fantasizing all the fun they will have with her.
Adam has no idea how long he has been in his cell, his wrists tied up, there's no way to tell time underground. He then sees the door to his cell open as Rarity is thrown in, like a sandbag. The cell then closes, with one of the dog creatures, who he believes is called Fido, guarding them. Adam immediately goes over to Rarity, completely covered in dirt and dust, with scratches, scrapes and bruises, her mane a wild flat mess, crying.
"Rarity?" asked a concerned Adam.
"Why did I have to go after that large gem? Why couldn't I have called it a day?" mumbled the unicorn through her tears.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened, it's not about how we ended up in this situation, but how we are getting out of it." comforted Adam. "Besides, I've made a promise to myself that we'll both get out of this mess together, alive, or not at all!" he continues, trying to cheer Rarity up. "Think about your parents, think about Sweetie, think about all your friends out there that you're letting down by giving up and blaming yourself!"
Something about what Adam said, struck a chord for Rarity, she can't give up! Not now, not ever! She's one of the elements of harmony! She saved the kingdom many times! She's not going to let her friends and family down! Rarity stops her crying and slowly gets up with a determined look on her face. "I! HAVE! AN! IDEA~!" she states dramatically to the human.
Fido is sleeping in front of the holding cell, until he is awoken by a voice calling his name. "Oh Fido." said the singsong voice. Fido then sees the voice is coming from the pony.
"What now?" was all the large dog said.
"I just wanted to know how long you've been down here." stated Rarity turning up the charm and flirtation to the max.
"A long time." answered Fido.
"When was the last time you've rutted a diamond bitch? Why, it must get really lonely down here, with no females around."
Fido's interest has been captured as he slowly walks up to the cell door. "What are you getting at?"
"Because I know how you feel, I've never been satisfied by the stallions where I'm from, and I was hoping that a big strong Diamond Dog as yourself can help me get my rocks off." she states. "I can be used in other ways besides being a gem finding slave."
Fido thinks about what she said, which isn't much. "What about monkey?"
"Oh him...don't mind him, he can just stand up and watch, he won't mind." Rarity explains with a smug tone. "Now be a good doggie and do your worst."
Fido immediately agrees to the unicorn's proposition and immediately opens the cell door and walks inside. He sees Rarity already in rutting position, her tail up in the air. "I'm waiting!" Rarity demands. Fido then immediately puts his paws on Rarity's rump, squeezing them while the unicorn closes her eyes getting ready for the inevitable until she feels the Diamond Dog let her go, followed by a 'thud'. Rarity opens her eyes and turns around to see Fido unconscious on the ground, Adam standing over him with a rock in his hand.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?" complained Rarity, who was extremely close to being rutted by the dog.
"I was waiting for him to let his guard down!" explained Adam with annoyance as he takes off Fido's vest and puts it on. Rarity just gives an annoyed sigh.
"What just happened back there...never happened." Rarity explains.
"Agreed."
"Hey Fido! Where did you go?" yelled Spot, seeing that his friend is no longer at his post. He then hears a painful moan coming from inside the open cell. Spot then sees Fido on the floor, rubbing his head in pain and his vest missing. "Uh oh."
Adam is quickly running in the shallow underground river, Rarity on his back with her horn glowing to light the way. They then hear barking, howling and splashes in the distance, getting closer to them. "There on to us!" exclaimed Adam, quickening his pace.
"Let me handle them!" barked Rarity with anger. She turns her head around to see Spot, Rover and several digging dogs chasing after them.
"GIVE US BACK OUR PONY!" yelled Rover.
Rarity, her blood boiling with anger, then gets an idea as she aims her horn at the rocky ceiling. "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU DAMN DIRTY DOGS!" she yells, as a beam of magic shoots out from her horn and hits the ceiling, causing several rocks to crash in front of the dogs, blocking their way. Rarity just gives a smug smile at a job well done.
"RARITY LOOK!" yelled Adam. Rarity turns her eyes forward to see daylight ahead, they finally found a way out of the caves.
Sunset, Adam and Rarity are walking side by side, heading towards Ponyville. Both of them happy and excited to have that ordeal done and over with. Then, much to Adam's surprise, Rarity cuts in front of him and sits down, making the human stop in his tracks.
"Rarity? What is it?" asked Adam, crouching down to speak to the unicorn face to face. Then, much to the human's shock, the unicorn grabs him and kisses him deeply on the kiss. The kiss lasts for a full minute before Rarity breaks the kiss.
"I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there," stated the unicorn. "and as a reward, I'll be happy to give you hooves on advice on how to love a mare...if you want."
"That's nice of you Rarity, but I should be the one thanking you, you did get those Diamond Dogs to stop chasing us, and you came up with our escape." stated Adam, being polite.
Rarity just quickly nods as they envelop each other in a deep hug. "Let's get going home." the human states. They both let each other and resume their walk back into town, heading towards the sunset, happy to be alive, and little more appreciative of each other.
TO BE CONTINUED...