Heir To Darkness

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 8: Dawn

Fluttershy pried her eyes open with a groan. Her muscles ached, tense and sore from having tensed up so severely. The sunlight on her face burned into her, and the air was thick with the scent of…

Nothing.

She should have been rancid with the metallic smell that so permeated the air around her last night. She may not have gotten the chance to take advantage of it, but she knew she’d flown through that fountain. Unless she had dreamed it all, she should have been caked in dry, sticky red goo.

Had she dreamed it all?

She didn’t seem to be in the right place, either. The world was still fuzzy around her, but she definitely wasn’t on the hard tile floor of the front hall. In fact, where she had been sleeping felt closer to a cloud, perfectly soft and fluffy, and the warm covers draped over her were just heavy enough to leave her feeling perfectly secure.

Still, though, something was off. The colors around her weren’t the soft, natural colors that decorated her bedroom. Her pillow smelled too clean, too unused. Most off putting of all, she was alone. Sure, Pinkie didn’t always spend the night at her house, but it still felt empty in bed without her.

As her eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light, more started to become clear. She definitely wasn’t in her room, but she was in a room. The bed was massive, far larger than she could imagine any one pony needing. The quilt draped over it, and over her, was a deep, rich red inlaid with intricate, swirling patterns of gold. The patterns were much thicker and more tangled near the edges, giving the impression that they were framing whoever might be sleeping beneath the covers.

The bed was surrounded by a light pink canopy, but the fabric was so light and sheer that it did nothing to block out the light streaming in. All it really served to do was cast everything on the other side of it in silhouette. It hardly even blurred the edges of the things it hid.

What she could see of the room outside the bed was already opulent. The light streamed in strangely from one side, seeming to seep in from every inch of that wall, which was no small feat given the enormity of the room. Furniture was scattered about, although several things seemed notably absent. She couldn’t pick out any sort of dresser or wardrobe, and there didn’t seem to be a vanity either.

As she scanned the blank outlines of the world around her, something up above caught Fluttershy’s eye. She looked up to find that, where she would have expected there to just be a framework holding up the canopy, a large mirror loomed over her. From where she sat she could see every inch of the bed around her.

Oddly enough, though, she couldn’t see herself in this mirror. It was as though she wasn’t even there.

Somewhat disturbed by this, Fluttershy decided to finally push herself up and head out into the bedroom. Her muscles were stiff, and she had to stretch a fair amount before she could move them all with ease, but once she did the dull throb started to peter out and she had no problem pushing aside the light curtain and stepping out into the world.

The most immediate thing that struck her was the carpet. It was nearly as soft as the bed, and her hooves sank into it satisfyingly. It was a lighter red than most of the room, which only managed to make it feel even softer.

She was completely surrounded by red. The curtains on the window were bright, rich red, the furniture was draped in deep red velvet, even the wood throughout the room was redwood. Besides the golden accents on everything, the only part of the room that wasn’t red were the walls, which were painted a dense black that Fluttershy’s eyes seemed to sink into whenever she tried to focus on it.

It was easily apparent why the light had shimmered so strangely across the room. This was because the room did not, in fact, even have a fourth wall. Instead, it ended in a wide, deep quarter dome of glass. It descended down past the floor of the room a bit, which meant there was a small step before one would enter a shallow pit of regal cushions and pillows that overlooked the world beyond. Fluttershy had no interest in stepping out into it, but she could easily see Rarity lounging there comfortably with four or five of her friends.

The rest of the room was fairly standard. An expensive-looking chaise lounge in one corner, a deep, comfy armchair in another. A single standing lamp with a heavy shade which looked like it would hardly even light itself. The door leading out seemed somehow both ordinary and exquisite, as though a master artisan had been commissioned to perfect the average wooden door. Another door was tucked away in one of the remaining corners, and at the foot of the bed was a heavy wooden chest. Not a chest of drawers or a hope chest, but the kind of imposing chest that would stand out in a room of the most incredible treasures.

There was one final thing of note, for it was a truly massive room. A fireplace was nestled into one wall, its bricks stained with smoke and charcoal in the hearth. It stood out first because, assuming she was in her room, Fluttershy knew how high up she was and how uneven the floors below were. It struck her that the architect must have been a true wonder to have kept this castle in one piece.

It stood out once more, though, because the mantle was lined from end to end with urns. They were packed so tightly that Fluttershy worried that picking one up to see if it was empty would end in her knocking another to the floor, and that was a mess she had no desire to make.

Fluttershy moved first to the unimposing side door and opened it up. Behind it, as she had suspected, was a closet. It was massive, easily the size of her bedroom back home, and almost entirely empty. There were some cloaks and scarves and a couple pairs of practical boots, but it seemed for the most part the only clothes she’d been given were those that might be needed to suit the weather. The were all red and black with sharp edges, exactly the kind of clothes Dracula likely wore. Fluttershy was fine with that, not because it was her style, but because the lack of other clothes gave her the impression that there wasn’t going to be a dress code, and she was incredibly grateful for that.

She took a few steps into the closet to look around, but quickly grew bored of the vacant room and left it again. Back in the bedroom, she made her way to the end of the bed, and the inviting chest that sat there.

She grabbed the sides of the lid and pulled up, but it didn’t budge. It didn’t even move the tiny amount it would have if it were caught by a lock, and looking it over Fluttershy found that that was because there was no lock. By all accounts, it should have been open. She tried once more, in case it was just stuck, but the lid may as well have been welded shut.

She tapped her hoof on the lid and looked around the room. Nothing else caught her eye. Pictures lined the walls, but they were all the kind of landscapes that seemed to fill the empty space of the hall of portraits below. She could see for miles outside the window, but despite everything the thought of going out onto that balcony made her stomach lurch.

Finally, her eyes fell on the sturdy wooden door, and she sighed. With a final yawn and an excessive stretch, she trotted over and stepped through it, back into Dracula’s castle.

Just as she had expected, she was up at the top of the front hall. Her door had a little balcony around it, but no stairs or walkways leading away. It looked like the only way in or out was to fly.

Fluttershy was just glad to see that the balcony had a railing.

Two unlit torches flanked her door, and proudly displayed on the wood was a golden plaque, just like those from the portraits. It read The Heiress.

She steeled herself before looking down over the railing, but rather than filling with fear, she just found herself bewildered. In the light, she could see down to the bottom floor without a problem, and it looked ridiculously close. She hardly seemed to be even five stories up, and only a smattering of walkways blocked her view of the floors below. She could even clearly see the fountain, she could make out the expressions on the gargoyles’ faces, she could see the exact size and shape of the streak of red running along the floor.

Then she realized what the red was and winced. There was a lot of it, and it went far, far enough that she’d stopped leaving a trail before she stopped sliding. From how things looked, she might not have stopped until she hit the wall on the far side of the room.

“You really made quite the mess.”

Fluttershy yelped and wheeled around to find Dracula standing behind her. She grabbed her chest and took deep breaths. “Oh, M-My Lady. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Dracula said.

“Um, well…” Fluttershy let out a long, slow breath, and her breathing finally felt normal again. “Good morning?”

“You know,” Dracula said, ignoring the greeting, “I really hadn’t expected that of you.” She walked up beside Fluttershy and looked down at the trail of blood.

“I didn’t think I would…” Fluttershy trailed off, embarrassed.

“Evidently,” Dracula replied. “Truly, though, I thought that once you got a taste you would call for your thrall to be brought here. Your dedication to martyrdom is really quite severe.”

“Well, I don’t know if I would call it that,” Fluttershy said. “I just don’t want to hurt anypony, is all.”

“So you say.” Dracula looked down at her seriously. “What, then, is your plan, exactly? To simply thrust yourself into the jaws of danger time and time again, hoping I’ll be there to pull you out?”

“I thought I would be fine,” Fluttershy said, “and Vale didn’t get shocked. Maybe if I drink enough—”

“You stupid girl,” Dracula interrupted, “your heart will give out long before then. Do you think yourself unkillable?”

“N-No,” Fluttershy stammered, “I just… Well, it was already giving out, and it just started back up.”

“That doesn’t mean it will always start again. If you want to drink, you need somepony to drink from.”

“B-But…” Fluttershy swallowed hard. It stung her throat. “I don’t… Do we know it won’t always start back up?”

Dracula furrowed her brow. “Do we know? How exactly do you propose to find out before it’s too late?”

“Well, I just thought, with all the experience the vampires around here must have…”

Dracula huffed. “Do we know,” she repeated under her breath. “Fine. Let’s have you know.”

With a quick, smooth motion, Dracula raised a hoof and thumped it against Fluttershy’s chest, and just like that her heart stopped beating.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide and she fell backwards. Immediately the corners of her mind were fuzzy. Her vision started to tunnel. A second later, she lost her breath, and no longer how hard she gasped she could not seem to get it back. Her muscles started to burn, and the world started to spin around her.

She could barely hear the world around her, but someplace far off she heard Dracula say “Well? Start it back up.”

She tried. She directed all the focus she had left to her heart, willing it to move. It did nothing. Her breathing stopped, useless as it was. The ringing in her ears turned to static in her mind. Her vision was almost completely black. Everything she had left, she poured into fighting to start her heart back up.

She couldn’t.

Just before she blacked out, Dracula thumped her chest again. Fluttershy gasped and held her chest as everything started working again. She fell over and shut her eyes as she breathed, listening only to her own gasps and the heavy pounding in her chest. She clutched herself and started to shake as the blood slowly brought her back from the brink.

“So?” Dracula asked. She stared down at Fluttershy with a blank expression. “Do you still wish to play in the fountain?”

Fluttershy couldn’t respond.

“Hmph.” Dracula turned away from her. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts, then.”

With that, Dracula turned and leaped from the balcony. Behind her, Fluttershy curled up as her body shuddered.

Comments

[Silent_Knight]

It was easily apparent why the light had shimmered so strangely across the room. This was because the room did not, in fact, even have a fourth wall. Instead, it ended in a wide, deep quarter dome of glass. It descended down past the floor of the room a bit, which meant there was a small step before one would enter a shallow pit of regal cushions and pillows that overlooked the world beyond. Fluttershy had no interest in stepping out into it, but she could easily see Rarity lounging there comfortably with four or five of her friends.

Leaving the 4th wall out entirely huh? Good idea it would not survive once pinkie got there lol