Elements Change the Dark Hearts

by Nightmare_0mega


Labyrinth

Traveling down the winding tunnels began to irritate the mare as she followed the vampire beast. The dirt and grime of the crude halls built up around her hooves and fetlocks, and the dusty air slowly marred her normally pure coat. All she could think about was how long this jail break was taking, and how she'd need one Tartarus of a spa session to fix this. She sighed lowly, looking to the side.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Rarity asked her escort.

Dumah's index claw made a small mark against the wall they passed as they came up to an intersection. He looked about, scanning the directions available, judging the bends and distances that he could gauge. In truth, it was difficult to tell where north was, and his path finding down here was crude at best, but the old vampire gave himself room for error. Making another mark upon a wall to the left, in the shape of his former clan's symbol, he took that direction in earnest.

His companion, however, was not very happy that she was being ignored, and decided to speak up again. "Excuse me, I asked if you-"

"I requested your silence, equine. Did I not?" he interrupted, keeping his voice hushed. "We are in an unfamiliar location against unknown beings that have obviously intended to keep you here for sinister means, if that cell is any indication at the least," the clan leader continued, "I care not for what happens to befall you, but I'd prefer not to have trouble while I leave this place." With that, he fell silent, and continued moving.

Rarity huffed, but heeded her pseudo savior's advice, deciding to gather her strength during the trek than waste it on arguing and complaining. She inwardly bemoaned the lengthy and utterly dull walk they would likely have to take, which she wasn't wrong about. Long, twisted, and rather unsafe tunneled paths remained before them, as Dumah ducked every now and then to avoid being struck upon the head by the odd stalactite. Once in a while, they would reach an intersection, to which the massive vampire would make his strange mark upon a wall, and go in that direction. Dishearteningly, out of the four or five times he would do this, he would have to either go back due to a dead end, or would end up looping around to an intersection they were just at. It was all a very boring process, which even got to the old King.

Having some time to reflect, and even examine himself, he finally took note upon his visage. While it still wasn't too important at this point in time, the dented, pierced, and slightly rusted nature of his once elegant armor caused his already damaged pride to erode. In a delayed reaction, his right hand reached up to the noticeable damage on his breast plate, almost incredulous to the truth. He sighed, dropping his hand to his side and resigning himself to the degradation he allowed through the fall.

"Is something the matter?" the little mare behind him asked.

"Be silent, horse. Do not make me repeat myself," the prideful ex-king huffed.

Doing as he requested, she refrained from arguing, but remained curious as to why the large vampire was in such a sour mood. Picking up the pace to a trot, she began moving side by side with the monster, and gave herself a closer look. It didn't take Rarity long to notice the dents, scratches, and the one hole visible on the right hand corner of his chest armor. It was a disaster, and began to understand the poor beings plight. It may not be MY fashion choice, she said inwardly, but I'd be darned if I let this continue to be without at least addressing it. After all, such exquisite detail should NOT remain marred.

"Excuse me," she said softly.

Dumah stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the little mare. "You are treading on eggshells, little creature," he growled, his claws brandished at his sides.

"I sincerely apologize for breaking the silence you requested. However, I must insist that once we leave these dreadful tunnels, that you allow me to take you back into town to help you repair the damage to your... wears. I simply cannot let this crime of fashion continue when you eventually go your separate way."

There was a beat of silence as the two stared at each other. Then, a low pitched chuckle began to raise in volume, as Dumah began to quake in mirth. Turning into outright laughter, Rarity simply stood there, nonplussed to his reaction.

"I'm begging your pardon, darling, but what is with your laughter? What do you find so funny?"

"Your jest," he said between guffaws. Rarity scowled, and tried to protest, but the vampire continued, his laughter dying down, "There is no way I would ever allow you to dare attempt to take my armor for repairs through such lowly care. My armor was crafted through divine hands, the hands of those blessed with OUR gift, equine. To allow any less to handle these works of art would be a crime punishable through execution!"

Rarity took a step back, eyes wide in distress to his last statement. E-execution? she thought, quivering. Normally, she wouldn't be this skittish around such boasts, and probably even speak back to call the bluff. She couldn't do that now, though. He may have made it clear that he doesn't feed on her kind, but she couldn't help but back down from the predator at this point in time. Chancing a glance, she looked to his claws, and noticed they were still opened widely, almost ready for an attack, despite his passive, if prideful looking posture. Best not push the limits, she thought, calming down slightly.

"If you are done with your incessant chatter and jokes, we should make haste. I do not doubt that around this time your captors have most likely figured out by now that you have escaped your confines." With that, he continued forth, marching right past Rarity. Remaining silent, and nodding in agreement to the assumption, Rarity continued to follow Dumah to freedom.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

"CAN'T BE GONE!"

Rover frantically continued to dig about through the rubble within the cell. "This no good, no good at all! Where is cursed whiny pony!?" he exclaimed shakily, becoming more desperate with each empty nook he peered into, each stone upturned, and each second ticking by. "King will beat me good! No bad! Beating will most certainly be bad!" he whimpered, practically withdrawing as a few painful and vivid memories began to plague his mind. He shook his head violently, and gripped his ears to try to ignore those thoughts. "Must be calm. Must be calm."

The guard dog known as Hector leaned his head into the cell to take a quick look around. Seeing nothing but his escort torturing and muttering to himself in the dark, he opted to try to speak up. Before he could, Rover clapped his hands, with a desperate smile etched in his face.

"King no need to know. We still find pony, King won't know Rover failed," he uttered with a rising confidence. Stepping out of the cell and back into the tunnels, he took a look both directions available, and gave a sniff of the air. It was faint, but he definitely picked up two different scents. A mare and... something else. He was so giddy that he found a trail that he didn't even question what that something else was. "Guard dog!" he exclaimed, turning to his escort, pointing in the direction of the trail, "Go that way. Follow scent. I go back and try to cut pony off. We catch pony, we don't get beaten!"

Hector nodded, and sniffed the air. It didn't take him long to pick up the same scent, and before Rover knew it, he was bounding down the tunnel and taking his first turn. Rover decided to take off himself, going the opposing direction to backtrack for a little while. Already going through the layout of the tunnel systems, he tried to remember any possible round about route that would likely lead him to the escapee.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

Hitting yet another dead end was starting to wear Dumah's patience remarkably thin. Despite having to pick up the pace on the assumption that they would be running out of time, all he managed to accomplish was trying nearly every path they passed by, marking every single one that didn't work, and running into countless dead ends. It was as if the direction they took was incomplete at best. With a gravely sigh, he turned around yet again, and looked for another path to take. Rarity remained silent the entire time, which Dumah counted as a small blessing, but found it annoying when he caught her staring at his armor. The look in her eyes was as if she was trying to reconstruct the design with her mind, which was an absurd thought on a few levels.

It took a few moments to get to another crossroad that held two unmarked paths to take up, and decided to go left. Yet again, it was the same song and dance of walking fruitlessly for a few moments and coming to a dead end. Gritting his sharp teeth, he slammed his fist against the end of the tunnel in frustration, causing the earth to shake slightly. To be fair, he didn't put all his strength into it, but one would be forgiven to think that what damage he did do was impressive. A decent sized crater within the wall was left behind from the strike, roughly twice the size of his fist. Rarity gulped silently after witnessing this creatures test of strength truly for yet a second time, mostly out of shock and awe. Part of her wanted to ask why he didn't simply use his impressive strength to make his own way out, instead of turning away from every dead end they find. But the more she looked at her surroundings, the less she believed it to be a good idea.

To be perfectly honest, she was originally too preoccupied to notice, but now having the chance now, she realized the tunnels were very crude, and at best flimsy. The fact that nothing happened when the vampire struck the end of the one they were in was nothing short of a miracle. If too much happens in one spot, she figured, there could be a cave in, which would seriously hamper their progress... or worse.

With another defeated sigh, the large vampire turned around, and started doubling back to the intersection, intending to mark off the path and go forth to the only option they had left at this point. At least I am getting a decent map out of this labyrinth to nowhere, he joked humorlessly.

Reaching the intersection, quickly scribbling a symbol on the wall of the tunnel he was leaving, he wordlessly continued forth to the opposing direction. The persistent silence granted him more time to think. Mostly about what he was trying to accomplish earlier before he became trapped underground. Heading north, establish a new city, and rebuild his kingdom. In hindsight, he wasn't entirely sure if it was the best idea just to head pure north. He should have known some obstacle would be presented to him by going straight and narrow, and more over, he should have taken a direction vastly different than the alabaster annoyance that was now following him. The more he thought about it, the more he began to seethe, beginning to blame the little horse for this misfortune. Looking back at her at a glance, she innocently followed him, barely paying attention to what he was doing. He huffed in irritation. The fear that she had once, indicated by the quick beating of her heart, subsided a while ago to a slower pace of calm, as it seemed she was becoming comfortable with his presence. It wasn't something he particularly cared for, as he always favored fear over acceptance from those lower to him. However, every second he spent with her was starting to get under his stone like skin.

Before he could continue to dwell on the subject, to grow to hate her more, he heard her gasp in fright. In fact, he could feel her heart-rate jump up along with said gasp. Focusing his attention forward, he found himself looking down at a bipedal dog creature in a beat up vest and diamond studded collar. Dumah growled to the fact that they were finally found, but smiled in revelation. Perfect, he thought, an outlet for my frustration.

"Guard! Take the pony to King! I will distract beastie!" the dog barked an order. Dumah spared a quick glance behind him, and noticed another bipedal canine behind him, this time in crude steel armor. Turning back to the one obviously giving the order, he slowly approached his pray, as the dog's face contorted slowly into growing fear and regret.

Finally... time to feed...

Rarity, however flinching in reaction to her captor's order, turned to face the dog that attempted to nab her. With a slight squeak of surprise, she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the dog's grab, and rushed behind to try to find something to defend herself with. The dog, however, was quick to recover, and even quicker to give chase.

In her panicked fleeing, she crossed the intersection, and realized too late she was heading for a dead end. While she had barely a minute to spare, she thought of what she could do to stop her attacker. Like inspiration, a small twinkle she never noticed before caught her peripheral vision. Losing no time, she lit her horn with her signature spell, just before stopping hard before the dead end. Turning to her pursuer, she took a defensive stance, trying to stay ready for whatever the armored dog had in store. Stopping a hop, skip, and a jump away from Rarity, the armored Diamond Dog slowly approached Rarity, paws outstretched in an attempt to fill the space of the tunnel to keep her from getting away. She got a good look at the dog's visage, concocting her plan while she took note of every detail and noted any weakness, such as its unprotected feet.

Keeping her horn lit, she looked about the walls, looking for any clue or any indication it was working, and counted the paces he had left to take. Seven steps closer, then six, then five. It was now or never, and just like that, she found what she was looking for. The moment he his three steps away, Rarity poured all of her magic she had into the spell. In the instant, out of a hole in the wall that began for form, a rapid fire stream of gems shot out, hitting him directly in the left side of the steel helmet. The perfect shots caused the dog to grip its helm in pain from the obvious vibrating and noise it made, and removed it in desperation. While distracted, Rarity closed in on the guard dog, and with a mighty stomp, stepped on the dog's very exposed left foot. The result was everything Rarity hoped for, as the dog howled, lifted his leg, and gripped the sore appendage with his paws in reaction. With no better time to act, Rarity took the opportunity to quickly spin around, and give the dog buck to its abdomen with all the strength she could gather. There was a soft clang sound as hooves hit steel, but due to the damage she made at the two key points on the guard, he toppled over anyway, landing with a metallic thud.

Out cold after landing its head with a slight crack on the hard ground, Rarity took her opportunity, jumping on the downed dog, and hopped off behind it to try to regroup with her protector.

It didn't take her long to find him, as they didn't go very far from that spot, but a lot of things seemed to have happened during her absence, she assumed in shock. The dog was on the ground before the goliath of a vampire, with scuffs, bruises, and a few small cuts littered on his body, almost as if he was being beaten for a little while. He struggled to get back up, as she heard the titan give a slight chuckle in what sounded like sick amusement. She was paralyzed and flabbergasted, unable to do anything but watch what was about to happen next. And what happened next scared her.

In a quick movement, Dumah grabbed the dog by his arms and shoulders, almost able to wrap his hands completely around the poor creatures body completely. The Diamond Dog weakly struggled, as Dumah made a small, faintly glowing incision on the dog's left arm with his thumb. Opening his mouth, and slowly inhaling, a faint tether formed from the cut to the vampires mouth. The dog's movements began to slow down significantly, right before it lost consciousness, but the vampire continued to breath in.

Something very dark was taking place, and Rarity, out of indiscriminate concern for fellow living beings, finally spoke up. "STOP!" she pleaded.

Dumah hesitated, breaking the tether he was leeching off of. He turned his attention to Rarity for a moment, eyes contorting to a scowl, demanding who would be foolish enough to stop his feeding. Looking to her eyes that were set within a deeper, sadder fear, he faltered. There was something in them he couldn't pinpoint, but that something about her look was screaming at him, telling him she knew what he was doing, and begged him not to go through with it.

"I must feed," he argued to her mute demand.

"I-I," she stuttered, trying to find the courage to speak up, "I understand... b-but is there any way you can... without-" she paused, unable to continue.

He knew what she was going to say. Without killing it? he finished for her in his mind. He turned back to the dog, whom was still breathing, and had the smell of a very diminished, but a slowly regenerating soul. Dumah sighed in defeat, and put the diamond dog back down, having laid it in a recovering position.

"Thank you," she said in genuine relief, "W-will he be ok?"

"The mongrel will live. I took enough that he shall sleep heavily for a few hours, to be sure." He answered, not turning to her. With that, he continued moving. His irritation sated, some of his strength returned, and nothing left but to move forward, he only hoped that this encounter would be the last for a long while. I don't need more annoyances than I already have.