Dark Rites

by Sporkbacon

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After running for a short while, the cave came into sight. It was a large cave; the entrance about 5 ponies wide. The sides were big stones pushed together to border the entrance. A dirt path went up to it and ended at the entrance; turning into stone. I figured it was not natural, but pony-made. It definitely didn't look natural. Upon closer inspection of the cavern, I saw black burn marks on the edges. It seemed as though somepony had used some kind of explosive in order to create it's entrance.

Inside, there were several torches impaled into the walls to illuminate the descent. Slowly and cautiously, I stepped across the front and started to head into the mouth of the grotto. After a few steps, I noticed that the floor had turned into steps. As I trotted deeper into the cave, I was greeted by a large cavern, with many holes leading in all sorts of directions.

I could easily be lost in here, so I retrieved a jar from my pack. Contained in this jar, was a bright, neon green liquid. I figured it could be used as a trail if I poured it out, making a pathway out by following the drops. I spilled some liquid at the base of the stairs. It sank into the rock and it shimmered slightly where I had poured it. Grimacing at the subtlety of my way out, I shifted into my second sight to see if seeing the liquid in a magical light would increase it's visibility. It shone with a almost obscene lime green color. Deciding that it would work out fine, I picked a path to the right, carefully rationing out drops as I trotted.

My little trail of "breadcrumbs" had taken me to a new central chamber, filled with even more directions to go. Starting to get frustrated that I would never find the right way to go, I heard another sudden feminine scream, followed by "BE QUIET, PONY!", which shattered my train of thought. Carefully spilling out more of the liquid in the direction of the voices, I quickly trotted into the correct tunnel. I saw several figures in the next room; two tall figures hovering over a pony, who was laying on their back.

The creatures stood on their back legs, yet I believed that they could stand on all fours and get around much faster. The creatures had short grayish fur, with long limbs and thick forearms. They stood at least two ponies tall, with short, stubby tails that ended in blunt looking barbs. One of them was larger and more bulky, with the other being more scrawny, yet still with enough muscle to do what needed to be done, I assumed. Both wore protective leather vests that hung limply at the edges, implying that they were not fastened together across their respective chests. Their faces pointed away from me, looming over a pony laying on her back.

The pony wore a fancy looking dress, so I decided that she was from Manehatten and had been kidnapped by these monsters. She had a piece of cloth over her mouth, effectively silencing her. Her dress would have been absolutely beautiful, except for the fact that it was stained with blood and other fluids. Creeping a bit closer, I tried to look into the room. Around the room there were several pony corpses hung on hooks, hanging from the ceiling, their freshly gutted midsections oozing blood and internal organs, which dripped onto the floor, staining it a deep crimson. This room had to be the main room of the whole burrow. It had a cook fire and a couple of mattresses, which were also stained red, in one of the corners. In the other corner, a large pile of diamonds, emeralds, rubies and more littered the floor. The walls of the room were fairly high. I hadn't even thought I was this deep.

As I crept closer, I heard more of the conversation that the pony and the two creatures that stood over her, or rather, the one-sided conversation that they were having with the poor pony. She was crying in a fit of hysteria; her eyes wide with fear. "What was that!?", one of them growled at the other. "Oh, crap." I said out loud, noticing that I had stepped on a rock, nudging it loose from it's original place. They must have really good hearing. They turned around in unison, giving me a full view of the fronts of them. The bulkier one had a small face with a large muzzle with twin blood-caked teeth sticking out of the sides of his mouth, giving him a quite intimidating look. The other one also had a big mouth, but his fangs were slightly smaller than the bigger one's. Both of them had a crazed and feral look in their eyes. Slowly, I asked, "What are you...?"

"We are Blood Diamond Dogs!" The big one grunted with some pride. Which cued the smaller one to growl angrily, "What are you doing in our lair, little pony?!" Sensing a fight, I readied a spell in my mind, summoned some courage, and with a tone that suggested heroism, I shouted, "I heard a cry for help coming from inside this very cave. I see that I am not wrong in the assumption that somepony needs my help!" I finished with a dramatic flourish. Shrimpy punched Wide-Load in the arm for letting the pony make a noise and shouted at the pony, "We told you to be quiet and someone heard you! Once we get done with this one, we are going to make your death extra slow." Then quickly added, turning back towards me, "And who are you to stop us, you stupid filly?" "You are barely out of puberty and you expect us to kneel to your pony might?" Wide-Load said sarcastically as he cracked his knuckles, getting ready for combat.

"I am Spellflash Darkheart and I will bring you bullies to justice!" I challenged heroically. "Have it your way. I love it when they fight back." Shrimpy said, picking up a red-hot fire poker from the cooking fire. "I've decided to call you," I pointed at Shrimpy, "Shrimpy, and you...Wide-Load." I said, gesturing at the other one. This only served to make them angrier. "GAHHH!" They shouted in unison, clearly infuriated. Shrimpy charged at me with his fire poker and slashed at me, clumsily. Easily sidestepping his attack, I threw my readied spell right under him. A spell circle charged with the words "circle", "bind", and "prison" materialized under his feet as he was encased in a barrier powerful enough to keep the dog at bay while I dealt with his friend. "No! Not like this!" He screamed in anger. "Quick, get that pony!"

Wide-Load swung at me with a force strong enough to crush bone, missing me completely, as he slipped in pony blood and fell. Again his knuckles cracked audibly, but with a much louder pop than before. With my mother's medical knowledge, I could tell just by the sound it made that his entire hand would be broken and useless and that his shoulder would be dislocated. Smirking, I faced my enemy down, knowing that I had the upper hoof. Shakily, he stood up, looking at his hand. Shrugging back, he popped his shoulder back into place with a grunt and flexed his hand. Gazing at him with surprise, I went wide-eyed for a second and shuddered. Clearly these would be tough opponents. Gathering up my magic energy and summoning a new circle in front of me, I simultaneously called up the word for my Sniper Bow. Inlaid in the magic circle I put the words for "circle", "speed", and "ice". If I couldn't hurt him directly, I decided slowing him would be a good idea.

I readied my crossbow with a bolt and shot one through the circle. It hit him squarely in the stomach and punched through his back and stuck into the wall. On impact, the bolt had left a trail of ice, impaling him to the wall. A little surprised, I readied another bolt. He spat up some blood before screaming with pain and fury. Trying to dislodge himself from the ice javelin I had created through his body, he cracked the spear in two by wiggling his body from side to side and broke free. Slowly than ever before, he walked towards me. The wound and the freezing effect of my spell had really impeded his movement. "I'll get you, you damn pony!" Wide-Load raged.

"I don't think so," I said casually. "The freezing effect is moving at an alarming rate. I don't think you'll be able to 'get' anypony ever again. He looked at his abdomen. Where the ice spike had penetrated, growing outward, his skin was turning blue and shiny with ice crystals. "Only a matter of time before you freeze, from the inside." I told him, with an evil grin spreading across my face. Wait, was I really this evil? To torture another living being, just as they had tortured innocent ponies? No, they were guilty and must be brought to justice. I shook off the sudden feeling of malice and said, "Since I'm a merciful pony, I've decided to end you quickly." I said as I shot my other bolt through his skull with enough force to shatter the recently-frozen head. He toppled backwards, headless, and shattered on the ground into a thousand ice cubes.

Combined with the anger of losing his friend and brute force Shrimpy shattered my prison spell. Just then, he grabbed a nearby potion off of the ground and swigged it. I saw the pure fury in his eyes as he started to transform. Out of his back grew small stubs of obsidian looking spines. His forearms shifted into demonic skin, and turned his paws into obsidian claws and he started growing horns just above his eyes, which were now giving off a black aura. So, the Blood Diamond Dogs had acquired some kind of demon potion. Well, lucky for me I had the skills to fight such a monster.

Upon reaching a transformation akin to a Dog/demon hybrid, he cast away his fire poker and ripped two of the spines out of his back, one in each hand. A little confused, I continued to watch. Half dog and half demon blood flowed down his back, as the spines in his hands started to grow. Shortly after, they became swords. "A sword fight then?" I asked him. All he had to say back was a hellish, bestial growl, showing me his newly transformed mouth. Suddenly, he charged at me, blades swung quicker than I thought possible, slashing quickly across my face and side. My usually pristine white coat started leaking blood, turning it a dark pink. "Alright, be that way." I spat, summoning my own blades from my wrists. My full swords were about three-quarters the length of his blades, but then again, he was bigger than I was.

I felt my wounds close as my second-word battle-aura started to form around me. After closing my eyes and focusing for what seemed like a few seconds to concentrate, I opened them, facing my opponent in a battle stance. Stepping sideways to guess his next movement, we circled the room, daring the other to make a move. Suddenly, he charged at me, barely missing my throat. Spinning, I brought both blades down on him and slashed across his chest. Where I had hit him sizzled with demonic energy, mending itself. "That's just unfair! You're cheating!" I shouted. He responded with a low, guttural growl and charged again. Quickly, I enchanted my blades with frost. Seeing as I had countered his friend so easily with frost, I figured it was what Blood Diamond Dogs were weak against.

With barely any time to react, I brought up my newly-enchanted blades and parried his next attack, sending him off-balance. "This is my chance!" I thought, as I jumped into the air, tackling him with my blades in front of me, digging them into his chest. Howling with anger and pain, he threw me off his body at a high speed. I collided with a stone column and felt blood running down the back of my head. Shaking my head as I felt the wound heal, I brought up my blades in a combative stance. It wasn't long before I noticed that my blades were still impaled in the Demon Dog, slowly freezing him from the inside. I sighed with relief and brought out a spell circle with the words "circle" "speed" and "force" pointed vertically at the Blood Diamond Dog. Deciding to be sure, I levitated two more spell circles behind the first one, with the one closest to me being the largest and released them in order.

A cylinder of pure force shot towards the partially-frozen mutt, ravaging his body with blunt trauma and digging my swords deeper into his chest. Falling backwards, he skidded against the ground and hit the back wall with a loud thump. Slowly, the demonic features he had diminished, bringing him back to his original form. Shrimpy slumped and fell to the side, my swords hitting the ground as he fell. I casually walked up to the dead dog and retrieved my blades before dropping the spell and absorbing them back into my bracelets.

Sighing, I realized just how exhausted I was. Way too much power was used up in that battle and I had paid for it. I was in for one painful headache when the spells decided to come back and haunt me. Pushing up my glasses and shaking the tiredness away, I trotted over to the mare that the Dogs had been torturing before. She was bound with crude looking cloth wraps around her hooves. Calling upon the first level spell, I brought out a dagger and cut her loose. She untied the gag in her mouth herself. "I thought I was dead for sure." She said enthusiastically. "Thanks for saving me!" "Sure," I said, panting a little. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked cautiously. "No, I'm fine," I said, then added after a pause, "Just tired," My eyelids felt heavy. I needed sleep, pronto. "Well, here." she said, giving me a vial of mysterious red liquid that she had in her saddlebags. Cautiously, I popped the cork out and swallowed the contents. I figured a potion from a pony I had saved wouldn't be harmful. After a short time an invigorating burst of energy filled my body.

"I feel great! Healing potion?" I asked. "Yep, I'm an alchemist." She told me, before gesturing at her flank. On her flank was an ornate flask of red liquid. The light green colored earth pony got up and told me her name. "I'm Ivy." "Spellflash," I said, shaking her hoof. "I gathered. I heard you call out your name earlier. That was quite an impressive battle." She told me as she popped one of her own potions into her mouth. A magical glow like the one I had just experienced went across her and faded, all of her wounds were healed. "I was just out gathering herbs for a new potion I'm working on and I got ponynapped into this horrible place. Good riddance, I say to those Dog-things." "Yeah, good riddance." I said, looking around, disgusted.

"So, shall we get out of here?" I asked. "Of course!" Ivy said cheerfully. Her blonde mane had streaks of blood through it. She had a headband that was a deep blue, matching the color of her eyes. Smiling back at me, she asked, "Lead the way. I was in a bag when I got here, so I didn't see which way we came from." She paused. "That is, unless you don't know either." "Nope, I left a trail back to the entrance. Shouldn't take too long to get outside. But first, do you mind if I look around here for anything useful?" "No, that's fine." She said, blowing her mane out of her eyes, "Five minutes, then we should go. I heard other voices coming from this cave. Who knows how many other Blood Diamond Dogs there are." "Oh, right. Forgot about that. I'll be quick." I told her, my eyes already scanning the room for magical artifacts. Finding nothing apparently valuable, I switched on my second sight and looked around for anything magical. The large pile of gems were tempting, but I didn't have enough room in my saddlebags for them. My eyes stuck on a demonic figurine of a demon in a meditative state. I put it in my pack and gestured for Ivy to follow me.

We followed my sparkly trail back to the entrance of the cave. Once we got to the stairs, I returned myself to my normal vision. Then we trotted up the steps to be greeted by Celestia's warm sun. Stretching and yawning once we got to the surface, my fatigue was getting to me, even with Ivy's potion. After finding the path back to Manehatten, we walked to the center of town and followed the way back to Sophie's store, getting disgusted looks from the townsponies as we trot past. "..and this is my aunt's humble abode." I told her, gesturing to the building. "Neat." She said simply, as we walked inside. "We both should probably take a bath." I said, looking at myself. "Sounds good, I'll go first." She told me, as she almost leaped up the stairs.

"Wait a second," I said, pausing. "How come you're so full of energy after drinking your potion, if it's wearing off on me just now?" "Oh, that? That's because I'm an alchemists. Alchemists work with potions and mixtures so much that the effects last longer and are more potent." "Ahh. That makes sense," I said thoughtfully. She would make a great addition to the demon hunting team. I had no idea if we already had an alchemist, but she looked hardy enough, and having a steady supply of helpful potions couldn't hurt. Just then she asked, "Where's the-?" I cut her off, gesturing with a hoof as we approached the hallway, "First door on your left. Hurry up, I feel dirty." "Sure thing, she said as she made her way to the bathroom, snagging a towel from the adjacent closet."

About twenty minutes later, I heard the water shut off and Ivy walked into the room. "My turn!" I said excitedly. As I passed Ivy, I looked at her in a new light. Now that she was clean, she was way more attractive. She was gorgeous. Suddenly, I felt a surge of emotion rise from my chest. I hadn't felt this way about anypony before. I shrugged the thought away, grabbed a towel, and hopped in the shower. I shouted, "Make yourself at home!" before turning on the water and washing the almost dry blood off my body.

After I was done, I walked out with a towel around myself and went into the kitchen. No Ivy there. I turned around and walked into the bedroom and noticed Ivy was snoring softly on top of Sophie's bed. Remembering there was no other beds and my exhaustion sending a new wave through my body, I collapsed onto the side she wasn't occupying and quickly fell asleep.

For what seemed like five minutes later, because it probably was, Sophie entered the room with an, "Oh, my!" She continued with, "Spellflash, if you were having somepony over, you should have told me." She was blushing, hard. "It's not what you think!" I yelled. "I found her in this cave, ponynapped by some crazy Diamond Dog things. I saved her from being tortured, brought her back here and we ended up passing out. We had a crazy day." Sophie nodded, looking unconvinced. "Uh-huh. Right. Well, whatever the case, she's welcome regardless. I trust your judgement."

Rubbing at my eyes, I said, "Be skeptical if you want, I'm telling you the truth." Sophie sighed and said, "Well, I guess that would be a good alibi for you not meeting me at my secret gem hunting spot earlier. I gathered some up and came back just a few minutes ago." Then she paused for a second, adding, "When I didn't see you there, I figured you were perusing the shops in town and I would end up finding you at my house, and there you are, snuggled up with some mare." she snorted, a little flush of pink showing on her cheeks.

"Wha-huh?" Ivy slurred, shooting up instantly beside me. "What's going on?" she said, with a voice of a pony that had not fully awoken. "Spell was just telling me about your little adventure. What's your name?" "Ivy, ma'am." She said, politely. "Ma'am!? Hah, you didn't tell me she had a sense of humor. I approve. Call me Sophie."