Chapter 12
Foxy Stripes was actually surprised how far down she had managed to come; no guard had really stopped her though some had kept an eye on her. The mare also noticed that not all of them had green in their eyes, some looked quite normal. She wondered if those were working willingly for King Sombra and didn’t require mind control.
The pegasus found herself in a long corridor, it matched Private’s description to the one that would eventually lead to the dungeon. She glanced around but found nothing remarkable about it, like elsewhere it was lit up with those greenish torches. Shrugging, the mare walked down the corridor, hoping this led to the dungeon.
It was a rather long and boring walk, Foxy was almost ready to just give up on it when up ahead she finally spotted two guards standing by an entrance. That of course posed a problem, she could not enter unnoticed and it was quite possible those two would bar her entrance.
Well here goes nothing, she thought and continued to approach. Her hopes of being ignored were quickly dashed away when both guards looked directly at her.
“Halt,” a guard with a bluish looking coat under his dark armor ordered. Foxy noticed that his eyes were normal, so where the ones on the other stallion who was light gray in color.
“No one enters without being escorted by the King or a guard,” the other guard clarified.
“Well you two are guards, can’t one of you escort me?” Foxy asked and smiled innocently, it vanished instantly when seeing the blue guard smirk. Oh crud, I know that look too well.
“Perhaps something could be arranged,” he said in a much softer and gentler voice.
Foxy was instantly on her guard, she knew this kind of situation all too well. A stallion wanting a certain kind of favor in turn for whatever she wanted. The mare had been foolish and gullible enough in her teens to fall for such tricks, but not now and she had long since sworn to never resort to that ever again.
There was just one problem with the current version of her dilemma. They were in a tight corridor, her wings were restrained so she couldn’t fly away to escape and she was sure that despite the armor, the guards could outrun her. The mare had a feeling that even if she said no, neither of them would have any qualms to just take what they wanted whether she liked it or not.
As she feared the blue guard took a step forward, clearly intending to arrange something as he had put it. There was clear greed and lust in his eyes as he sized Foxy up, especially paying attention to her rear end. The gray guard stood and watched but was smiling as well, the mare just knew he would be wanting a turn as well.
Oh horse apples. The mare took a step back, wondering if she should just try her luck and run. Then she remembered her collar and a crazy thought occurred to her.
“Now guys, before we do anything we might regret later,” she said and smiled nervously. “Does my collar mean anything to you.”
To her relief the blue guard halted his approach and looked at her collar. His face fell and his eyes widened, his friend looked quite shocked as well when seeing the neckwear for the first time. They both cringed and started looking around worryingly as if they feared the King would suddenly sprout out from the shadows.
“Ah… my apologies… I didn’t see the mark of a consort,” the blue guard stammered and backed away.
I can’t believe I can thank that bozo for the collar, it just saved my rump quite literally. Foxy was now grinning wickedly as more ideas were coming to her mind. Now that she knew the collar kept her safe from overeager guards, she had full intention to utilize it fully.
“So, just so we are on the same page here,” Foxy said and crossed her legs. “This collar means you can’t touch me?”
“The collar means you are the property of the King and he does not share his property, so yes we are forbidden from touching you unless it is make sure you’re safe from any harm,” the blue guard said and was still eyeing the shadows nervously.
Ugh, I’m not his property. Foxy had to restrain herself from groaning at what she had just been called, but the mare knew she would just have to live with it. No use complaining.
“Safe from any harm, well that’s good to know. Does that mean I still can’t take a peek in the dungeon?” she asked and did wonder why the two stallions glanced at each other, it was almost like they were not quite sure.
“My lady, the King would slaughter us if anything were to happen to you and right now we have a fugitive running loose there. It isn’t really a good idea to visit it right now,” the gray guard now spoke, sounding a little more courteous than the other one.
Oooh, are you telling me the Doctor has escaped? Foxy had to really fight back a grin and did her best to just feign a surprised look. Now I really have to get inside and help him get out.
Foxy took a note of the two guards, she saw no wings or horns. Ordinarily it would mean they were earth ponies. However, she wasn’t sure how similar to them crystal ponies were which those two most likely were. If they were similar that meant, even if she was pretty strong for a pegasus mare due to her size, they could easily overpower her with sheer strength alone.
Another problem was that they were watching her and both very alert. They would probably react quickly to anything she tried to do. She did notice though that their helmets did not cover their muzzles.
The corridor forces them to stand rather close to one another, if I position myself correctly… Foxy turned around as if to leave, casually she glanced back at the two guards who looked somewhat relieved thinking she was going to head back and thus out of their hair.
I am so dead if this doesn’t work. The pegasus thought as she subtly lined herself up. Then with a might shove she thrust her hind legs up in a powerful kick, each hoof aiming for a different guard. There was a loud smack as both made contact and the two crystal ponies were thrown back, slamming their already injured heads to the wall.
Foxy quickly turned around, knowing she only had seconds to finish what she had started. The guards had not been knocked out but had been disoriented as they sunk groaning to the ground. Using her mouth, the mare quickly pulled the helmet off the blue guard and with a swift punch of her fore hoof, hit him in the cheek, fully knocking him out.
Unfortunately, the gray one was already rising up with a growl. Foxy, eyed the helmet she still held with her mouth then swung her head and using it as an impromptu club, smacked the stallion in the muzzle again, sending him smashing against the corridor wall. Tossing the now cracked helmet away, she quickly stepped closer, pulled the head protection off the disoriented guard and swiftly knocked him out with a punch.
“Should I be relieved or suspicious that I just managed to knock out two trained castle guards?” Foxy muttered as she regarded her handiwork, two unconscious guards lying by her feet.
The mare decided to worry about that later, she did have the element of surprise after all. Foxy opened the door and peeked inside, there were no guards but it was a hall of some sort with cabinets, chairs and tables, another door was at the furthest wall.
With a grunt, Foxy dragged both guards one at a time with her into the hall after putting the helmets back on them. She hoped to find something to tie them up with, or in best case, just toss them into a cell. The pony found another door partly hidden by a closet and opened it, it looked to be a storage area of some sort. Hanging on a hook was the Doctor’s vest and other winter gear.
Oooh, gonna need that. Foxy grabbed the vest but ignored the winter stuff as it would be too cumbersome to carry, the mare knew the vest was the real treasure. She carefully peeked into the pockets and smiled when seeing some of the Doctor’s many tools in them. The mare placed it on her back, then glanced back at the unconscious guards.
With a heave, Foxy dragged the two stallions to the storage room, after quite a bit of pushing and shoving she managed to stuff both of them into it before closing the door. Then she dragged the closet to fully conceal and block the door and for good measure put most of the tables and chairs in front of it.
“That takes care of that, now to find the Doctor.” Foxy smiled and trotted over to the door she figured lead to the rest of the dungeon.
Looking inside she noticed several cells, all unoccupied but two had their bars broken. Foxy frowned a little at that, could this mean that the Doctor escaped with another prisoner? She entered the corridor fully and took a closer look at the nearest cell, nothing remarkable could be seen in it that could clue in who had occupied it.
Foxy headed further after the corridor, hoping to see some sign of life, preferably not a guard though. She passed many more cells, looking casually into one of them she almost wished she hadn’t. There were skeletons in it, pony skeletons. It appeared that some were really left to rot and be forgotten down here.
Eugh, I knew that guy was evil but, jeez. The mare shuddered and continued to walk, ignoring the cells from now on.
Soon the mare found herself in a more twisting parts of the dungeon, it also had many more turns and corridors intersecting with one another. Foxy sighed as she realized that finding the Doctor here could take a while and she probably didn’t have that much time, King Sombra would notice her missing if he came to check on them in the guest chambers.
She considered risking calling him when two legs suddenly wrapped around her neck and a pony made a valiant effort to pull her back. Foxy blinked and immediately stood firm, though the other pony almost managed to have her take a step back.
“Ugh… you’re heavier than you look,” a female voice grunted.
“Thanks for noticing,” Foxy snorted and felt something being put against her neck.
“Alright fine, now don’t you make any wrong moves, missy, you’re gonna be my ticket out of here,” the pony hissed.
“This would be more impressive if you hadn’t just put a dull rock up against my neck,” the pegasus pointed out, not feeling too threatened. She was guessing it was the prisoner on the loose.
“Besides.” Foxy turned her head and inwardly winched at seeing the injured earth mare that was making a valiant effort to take her hostage. “I think we are on the same side.”
“How do you figure?” the pony grunted, not hiding the suspicion in her eyes. She did let go of Foxy and backed away, still holding the rock.
“I’m just as much a prisoner of that bozo who imprisoned you here, see this collar? It is a choke collar that prevents me from hurting him, it also marks me as his… ugh ‘property.’ I came down here to search for a friend of mine, you may have met him, goes by the Doctor,” Foxy calmly told her and smiled a little as she turned herself around to face the golden mare.
The mare sized Foxy up with her eyes, still looking wary and suspicious. The pegasus wondered how she received her wounds, they were all over her body like she had been stabbed multiple times.
“How did you get down here? Surely the King doesn’t just let his property wander off,” the earth pony stated, still not quite trusting her.
“Well we seem to be allowed to walk around most of the castle, although to get in here I had to knock out the idiots guarding the entrance and stuff them in a storage room,” Foxy told her, that caused the mare to raise an eyebrow. “My name is Foxy Stripes by the way.”
“I’m Apple Core,” the injured pony relented and dropped the rock. “And I’m afraid King Smokes recaptured the Doctor, I don’t know where he took him.”
“King Smokes,” Foxy giggled and snorted. “I have to remember that one.”
“Seriously though,” she then said after regaining composure and furrowed her brow. “That put quite a dent in my plans. Because I was sort of counting on the Doctor still being here.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what he was planning after we escaped. I’ve found out that I’m stuck here, there is no way out except the exit which is guarded… wait you said you knocked the guards out?” Apple Core blinked as she realized that.
“I did, which means the exit should not be guarded anymore.” Foxy nodded, though for all she knew new guards had arrived and discovered the two in the storage room.
Apple Core glanced back and winched when straining some of her injuries. Foxy frowned in concern and stepped closer. She could only guess that either the mare was extraordinary stubborn or her earth pony sturdiness kept her standing.
“Maybe you should sit down before moving on, you look like you decided to take a stroll through Tartarus,” the pegasus said and wondered if the Doctor had something of use in the vest pockets.
“What, you’re telling me we aren’t in Tartarus?” Apple Core weakly joked but did sit down as advised, Foxy grinned at it while she began peeking into the pockets.
“I used to have Crystal Shards embedded into me, courtesy of his Royal Smokiness. The Doctor used this to somehow get rid of them.” The earth pony reached into her ear and pulled out the silver coin. “No idea how he did it, said something about it being capable of countering his spells.”
Foxy listened as Apple Core continued to tell her how they had escaped and then their mad dash through the dungeon before King Sombra recaptured the Doctor. The mare had then spent her time skulking around in the dungeon and avoiding guards who still searched for her. The pegasus was rather impressed to learn that she was an agent of Celestia and Luna.
“Nope, nothing in here, I guess we might be lucky and they have something stashed around to treat wounds,” Foxy declared once she had gone as thoroughly as possible through all the pockets.
“I somehow doubt it, but thanks for looking, sorry about the rock earlier,” Apple Core said and put the coin back in her ear, then prepared to stand up again.
“Don’t sweat it, I probably wouldn’t do much different if I was in your position.” The maroon mare smiled.
“We better get moving, I know there are still guards around here somewhere,” the earth pony said and glanced around.
The pegasus couldn’t argue with that, plus she was on a limited time herself. King Sombra would no doubt come looking for her if she wasn’t present up in the chambers. The two mares made their way back to the exit, so far they were lucky not to meet any guards, though at one point Foxy could have sworn she heard the clink of an armor before realizing it were the chains on her collar, she had forgotten they would sometimes strike together as she walked.
“Right, there is a really long corridor through that door,” Foxy said once they arrived at the hall just before the exit to the dungeon.
“Guards at the end?” Apple Core asked as she eyed where the tables, chairs and a closet were stashed up against the wall. Guessing already that was where the storage room was.
“Uh there were guards in the hallway that lead to the door down to this corridor,” the maroon mare said and sighed, this might be trickier than she had initially thought.
Apple Core frowned heavily at that but then had a thought. The armor the guards wore did cover them pretty well. She walked over to the tables and started to move them out of the way. Foxy blinked when seeing what the other mare was doing.
“Ah, you know I stuffed two unconscious guards in there right?” she asked and walked over.
“Yeah and they aren’t making any noise so they must still be out. I was thinking about removing the armor of one of them and then pretending to be a guard escorting you back out of the dungeons,” Apple Core told her and grinned.
“Ooooh of course, I’m a ‘consort’ so it wouldn’t look out of place if a guard is escorting the consort back after she wandered off to where she wasn’t supposed to wander.” Foxy nodded and started helping Apple Core remove the obstacles to the storage room. During the process, the vest slipped of her back but the pegasus ignored it for now while she was busy.
It took a bit of work but they finally made it to the hidden door. Foxy opened it and both guards poured out of it with some noise. They still looked out but were breathing. Apple Core began removing the armor of the gray one as he was the smaller of the two, just a little bit bigger than her. The pegasus did her best to help but made sure to keep an eye on the stallions in case they began to rouse.
“Ugh, this heavy armor is not doing my wounds any favors,” Apple Core grunted as she began dressing up. The mare wasn’t so sure anymore if this had been a good idea, she was already weakened enough by her injuries.
“You sure you can do this?” Foxy wondered while she pushed the stallions back into the closet. It was a little easier now that one was no longer in his armor.
“Got no choice, I have to escape this castle. Don’t know what you plan to do, I mean those two will probably remember you attacking them,” the other mare pointed out while she watched the pegasus put the closet and the tables back in front of the door.
“I’m not leaving without my sister and our friends, so I’m heading back up to the chambers,” Foxy declared and turned to the other pony who was picking up the Doctor’s vest from the ground. “But I can probably help you get out of here.”
“You know, King Sombra is probably not going to be very kind to you once he finds out what happened here,” Apple Core remarked and gestured to what was visible of her wounds. “This is what he did to me and I’m a spy. You really want to find out what he’ll do to you for helping a spy escape.”
“I already got a pretty good idea, but I’m not going to let that stupid idiot…” Foxy stopped midsentence when she saw Apple Core’s eyes suddenly open wide and the vest dropped from her hoof.
“Oh no… no, no, no, no. He’s not behind me. If I don’t look back, he is NOT behind me!” The pegasus declared, her right eye twitching and she pointed behind her with her left fore hoof.
There was a clank as the hoof definitely made contact with a chest plate. Foxy wanted to scream, shout and curse but all that came out of her mouth was a meek whimper. The mare dropped her leg back down and finally relented to look back, doing so very slowly. Staring right into the grinning gaze of King Sombra.
“Foxy, my dear, how ever did you manage to find yourself all the way down in my dungeon,” the king said softly and raised one leg to place his ironclad hoof on her back.
“I… um… just wandered around.” Foxy could barely whisper.
“Indeed, guard, what happened to the two imbeciles that were supposed to guard the entrance to the dungeon?” Sombra glared at Apple Core, who blinked when she was addressed by him.
Oh Celestia have mercy, he doesn’t recognize me, he thinks I’m one of his guards. The mare couldn’t believe the luck. Then again, Sombra had only emerged behind Foxy just as the pegasus had been responding to her. He must have just been arriving and figured she had been stopping Foxy from proceeding further in.
“Uh I was just about to investigate that myself, when your consort arrived, my lord,” she responded doing her best to deepen and alter her voice and hoping against hope that the Dark King wouldn’t recognize it.
Sombra frowned and dropped his hoof back down to the floor. For a brief moment both Foxy and Apple Core feared that he was just playing with them and was about to reveal that he knew what was going on all along. Much to their relief the king simply started to glance around and then noticed the furniture stacked up against the wall.
“Now this is rather unusual placement, guard, remove those away from the wall,” the king ordered, Apple Core grunted but obeyed knowing she would blow her accidentally successful disguise if she didn’t.
I can’t believe he doesn’t recognize her. Then again the armor covers most of her features and her cutie mark and it’s too dimly lit to see the wounds. Foxy didn’t dare move or say anything in protest, but she just knew this couldn’t be doing the pony’s injuries any good.
The door was revealed again. Apple Core glanced at Sombra who inclined his head in a nod, the mare reached and opened the storage room, the two unconscious guards once more fell out.
“One is missing his armor.” King Sombra narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to the two stallions.
“Maybe the spy did this, my lord?” Apple Core suggested and subtly pushed the vest out of sight, she had a feeling Foxy could never retrieve it without rousing suspicion. “Then took the armor in hopes to sneak out, posing as one of your guards.”
Wow um that’s risky to suggest, considering she is trying to sneak out as one of his guards. Foxy cringed and wondered if the cover was blown now. Sombra was staring at the two guards with suspicion in his eyes.
“Wouldn’t have thought Equestrians had that kind of imagination,” the king snorted and gave the disguised mare an amused glance. Apple Core politely chuckled at the joke while inwardly she growled at the insult.
“Throw those two idiots into a cell, I’ll talk with them when they wake up, then spread the word that the spy is dressed up as a guard and is trying to sneak out. I’ll escort my consort back up to the guest chambers,” Sombra then ordered and turned back to Foxy.
The pegasus just couldn’t believe this incredible stroke of luck. They had actually managed to fool King Sombra with the guard disguise and now it was Apple Core herself who was tasked with letting know about the spy.
“Yes, my lord,” Apple Core bowed her head, sighing quietly in relief.
“Come along, Foxy Stripes, what would your sister think if I allowed you to wander around in the dungeon.” King Sombra smirked and walked towards the exit, he stopped by it while waiting for the pegasus to follow.
Foxy giggled nervously before walking over to him, she gave Apple Core one last glance before she followed the king out to the long corridor. It was still hard for her to believe this had worked, the king clearly didn’t bother with knowing his guards to well.
“So… I take it you heard me calling you uh… less than flattering names?” the pegasus had to admit being rather worried to be alone now with the Dark King in the corridor.
“Oh please, you should hear some of the things my slaves call me, that was tame compared to some of the insults that have been hurled my way. The guard might have taken some offense to it though, you were lucky I arrived when I did,” Sombra said and glanced at the mare with a smirk.
“Heh… yeah, well I did tell you about my mouth.” Foxy did her best to grin. This at least confirmed that Sombra had thought Apple Core just to be another guard in his service.
“That you did, perhaps we should find some other use for it,” the dark unicorn murmured. He stopped his walk and turned to face Foxy who was forced to halt as well.
Other use… oh you got to be kidding me. The mare froze when Sombra leaned his head closer and started to scent her neck before moving his muzzle upwards towards her mane, inhaling greedily.
Great I get away from one leery idiot only to be accosted by the one idiot I can’t trick away. Foxy grimaced wondering how she could escape this situation. She shuddered when feeling the warm breath from Sombra’s mouth next to her ear. This was making her really uncomfortable and some unpleasant memories were surfacing.
“Ah, what is this? Have I come closer to what you fear the most?” the Dark King whispered softly, his eyes turning green and the purple mist started pouring from the corners.
“Uh… what do you mean?” Foxy whispered and gasped when she was locked in Sombra’s gaze.
“I tasted your fears once, Foxy Stripes. But those were fears you can live with, thanks to the support of your family and friends. But this fear, this one is truly buried,” the king was smiling maliciously, still hovering his muzzle mere inches away from the mare’s face.
“I… I…” the mare stammered, more memories were rushing through her mind as if they were being pulled forth. Her eyes were turning green as Sombra managed to gain access to her mind.
“To be used and then thrown away, to never know any love,” he whispered softly and reached up with a hoof to gently caress Foxy’s cheek. The mare whimpered as she saw all the stallions in her past who had used her, either just for the cheap thrill or trying to get through her to her sister.
“You really truly fear that you will never have any fulfilling relationship, never have anypony who loves and cares for you as you are.” Sombra smiled wickedly.
The dark unicorn had to restrain a laugh as he felt the mare’s mind slowly crumble. As he had suspected she was much easier to manipulate than the others. Underneath that sunny attitude and blabbermouth was a very vulnerable pony. She could live with the name calling, she could even live with it that other ponies might think her odd, but the one thing that truly bothered her was how unlucky she had been in forming any lasting relationships. It had really marked her deeply.
“Have you considered that perhaps it was a stroke of luck that you came here? Think about it, you’re not locked up, you have been treated reasonably well, although you have forced me to discipline you twice but that can all be forgiven. Here you can live as if you were a queen, no one can touch you safe for me and I will only touch you gently,” Sombra murmured and slowly moved his muzzle so it hovered just barely half an inch away from her cheek.
No… no that isn’t right… he… but… the guards… they backed off when seeing the collar… we can move freely… he’s not mad he found me… no this isn’t right… Foxy struggled in her mind against this idea, yet a tiny part in her mind was actually thinking what he said made sense.
Sombra could feel the struggle in the mare's mind but could already tell that she only needed one final push. He was already relentlessly barraging Foxy's mind with her fear of being alone, showing a life without love and nobody caring for her. With a devilish grin the Dark King moved himself closer and suddenly wrapped one leg around Foxy as he pressed his mouth up against her's in a gentle kiss.
The mare was taken by surprise at first and her first instinct was to struggle, but she didn’t and instead relaxed into it. Purple mist was pouring from the corner of her eyes and already the sclera had turned fully green and her irises changed from light blue to red.
“Here you will be loved and cared for, Foxy Stripes,” Sombra whispered when their lips parted and held back a mad cackle when feeling the last defenses crash inside her mind.
“Y-yes,” Foxy whispered feeling a bit dazed, feeling gentleness and care from the stallion in front of her.
“You are mine now.” Sombra’s voice echoed through her head. “Obey me!”
“Yes, my lord,” the mare said and smiled. “Please command me.”
Two down, one to go. The Dark King now finally allowed himself to laugh as he had now full command of yet another of the Doctor’s friends.
End chapter 12