The Broken One

I appeared at the portcullis with a loud crack of teleportation and was instantly bombarded with shouted demands for information. I stared at the gathered ponies and guard, two of which were rather familiar. I raised my hands causing the crowd to go quiet. Once the assemblage was silent I lowered my hands.

“What is going on here”, I asked loudly.

“What have you done with Rarity”, Applejack demanded heatedly.

“I haven’t seen her”, I replied.

“She told Miss Pie that she was going to pay you a visit yesterday and hasn’t returned”, Mayor Mare exclaimed.

“Audrey, please review all visitors since yesterday morning.”

Visitors are as follows: Princess Celestia of Equestria; Prince Blueblood of Canterlot; Pinkamena Pie. End of specified list.

“As I said”, I huffed, “I haven’t seen her.”

“Oh my”, the mayoral pony gasped. “I do apologize for the misunderstanding.”

“It’s a small matter”, I growled.

“Now I just feel awful”, Applejack sighed as she pulled her hat from her head. “I’m awful sorry about this, sugar cube.”

“Think nothing of it”, I nodded. “Right now we need to find that fashionista and bring her ass home.”

“Heeeeeeeeeeelp”, a small voice echoed from down the road.

We turned toward the sound and spotted a tiny dust cloud being kicked up by the tiny feet of a small purple dragon. He slid to a stop and doubled over panting.

“Spike, what’s-“, Twilight began but was interrupted.

“Rarity! Woods! Dogs! Hole! Taken! Save her”, the small dragon gasped before collapsing.

“Show me where”, I demanded as my sword blinked into existence on my side.

I took to the air with Rainbow Dash as the others took off at a gallop leaving the guards and mayor behind. As I flew I willed my flowing clothes to change into my leather armor and I felt the comforting weight envelope my body and just knew this little adventure would be interesting. I glanced down and saw Spike breathing into a paper bag as he rode on Twilight’s back. I followed Rainbow Dash as she dropped altitude.

“Spike, can you breathe now”, Twilight asked as she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Yes”, he gasped. “I think so.”

“Good”, the purple unicorn nodded. “Now tell us what you know.”

“Yeah”, Dash interrupted, “Cus all you said was ‘Rarity, woods, dogs, hole, taken, save her’.”

“Not a whole lot to go on there, sport”, Applejack added.

“Sorry”, Spike said as he rubbed the back of his head. “Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels when these creepy guys showed up.”

“Creepy guys”, Twilight asked as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

“They called themselves the Diamond Dogs”, he explained. “They grabbed Rarity and disappeared down a hole in the ground!”

“Well this sounds mighty easy”, Applejack grinned. “Just take us to that there hole and we’ll save Rarity.”

As the earthbound ponies crested a hill they all slid to a stop. I flapped backward and hovered in the air as I stared at the valley below us. The valley floor was covered with holes and I felt a sinking feeling as I stared out over the valley.

“Holy Moley that’s a lot of holeys”, Pinkie blurted.

“No shit”, I groaned.

“Come on girls, let’s get started”, Twilight sighed as she trotted down the hill before us.

“You realize Spike and I are guys, right”, I grumbled as I landed beside her but she ignored me.

“Hello”, Twilight shouted into the first hole she came to.

I laughed as one by one the girls all got a face full of dirt. Spouts of dirt rapidly began filling holes as the ponies all tried to get underground.

“Quick, we have to get down one before they’re all filled up”, Twilight shouted needlessly.

Applejack tried to force her way past the fountain of dirt but was thrown backwards.

“We can’t muscle through it”, she shouted.

“We’ll see about that”, Dash grunted as she flew up into the air.

She dove toward an open hole but came to a screeching halt as a mound of dirt sealed the opening. She hovered and stared dumbfounded at the hole beneath her.

“Heavens to Betsy”, Applejack gasped as she wiped mud from her face. “Now I’m used to pickin’ myself up and dustin’ myself off, but Rarity won’t even touch mud unless it’s imported!”

“Yeah, she’s prissy as hell”, I agreed.

“Oh Rarity”, Twilight moaned sadly as her eyes went distant for a moment.

“We gotta save her”, Applejack said loudly.

“But they blocked up all the holes”, Fluttershy argued politely.

“Don’t mean we can’t dig ‘em out”, Applejack replied as she did just that.

The others leapt into action picking a hole and digging. I caught sight of a gray paw reaching out of the dirt and yanking Twilight off her hooves by her tail. The others received the exact same treatment and Spike was tripped as he ran between two mounds. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched them try to catch the Diamond Dogs. I did wince however when Twilight and Dash tried to catch the same dog but slammed headfirst into each other.

“Okay, the hell with this”, I growled as I spotted a single hole that hadn’t been filled yet. I took to the sky and dove down through the hole. I navigated the twists and turns with ease and found myself in a massive tunnel with hundreds of smaller tunnels branching out. I sighed as I unleashed my inner vampony and took a deep breath through my nose.

The stench of wet dog slapped me in the nose but I caught just a hint of the flowery perfume Rarity was so fond of and followed the trail slinking through the shadows. Every noise was amplified by the tunnels and my enhanced hearing and the mix of smells was intriguing. I heard movement up ahead and crouched even lower as I crept up.

“Stupid loud pony hurts ears with whining”, a rough voice spoke.

I crept up to a bend in the tunnel and peeked around to see two bipedal mutts standing there facing away from me. I crept up on them silently and plunged my straightened hands through their chests. Blood sprayed over me as they fell on their faces dead.

“Beware the things that go bump in the night”, I whispered as I grinned.

I dragged the two corpses deeper into the shadows and continued along the tunnel I had been following. I froze and pressed myself flat against the wall as I heard paws padding through the tunnel. I leapt out at the last second and sent a quick punch toward the brown dog’s face but he ducked and latched his jaws onto my arm.

“Do I taste good”, I laughed as I slammed my other fist down onto his snout driving his teeth further into my arm before they broke off.

I gripped the dog’s throat and smashed my forehead into his snout. As he fell I drew my sword and drove it through his chest. A single whimper slipped from him as his life faded from his eyes. I ripped my sword free and tossed him aside before continuing down the hall. I flung blood from my blade before slipping it back into its sheath and huddled by an opening that led into a large chamber.

“Please, take her back”, a pitiful gravelly voice whined.

I peeked around the corner and spotted all of my friends as they hooked themselves up to six wagons full of gems. The ponies made their way from the cave and I slipped silently through the shadows toward the three dogs.

“We just lost our gems”, the shortest of the three mumbled.

“At least noisy pony gone”, a taller gray dog growled. “Whining hurt ears.”

“That’s the least of your worries”, I snarled causing the three to jump and spin around.

In one motion I drew my sword and slashed diagonally across the leftmost dog’s chest splitting him open from his left hip to right shoulder. He fell amidst a spray of blood and I sent a ball of black fire into the shocked face of the beast on the right. As he fell I kicked the short brown dog in his face sending him sprawling on his back with a broken nose.

“Don’t hurt me”, he begged as he cradled his pouring snout. “We gave pony back!”

“Never should’ve taken her in the first place”, I growled as I sheathed my sword.

I jumped on his chest and sank my nails into his flesh. He let out a pained yipe and I grinned as I ripped my hands free pulling flesh with them. I slashed at him over and over again covering his face and neck with nasty gashes before he reached up to try to grab me.

“I don’t think so”, I grinned.

I grabbed his arms and pulled as hard as I could causing him to yelp and cry in pain as I felt his elbows and shoulders dislocate. I stood and planted my foot in the middle of his chest before gripping his wrists.

“Hang on to something”, I laughed darkly.

I braced my legs and pulled as hard as I could and relished the sound of tearing flesh as his arms were ripped from his body. His blood sprayed over my face blinding me momentarily and driving my anger up a few notches.

“You filthy fucking mutt”, I snarled.

I swung his arms as hard as I could pummeling his head and chest. I beat him mercilessly for several minutes until his whimpers and moans stopped. I panted as I stared at the bloody mess beneath me and dropped the destroyed limbs on the lifeless body. I turned and scanned the area looking for more enemies but there were none.

“Dammit”, I growled before stalking off through the tunnels I had come in through.

I made my way back into the sunshine and breathed deeply as I reined in my vamponic powers. I leapt into the air and flew high above the valley looking for my friends. I spotted them a good distance away and zipped through the sky toward them. They heard me coming and looked up just in time for me to fold my wings as I slid to a stop in my superhero landing.

“EPIC”, Dash shouted.

“Where the hay have you been”, Applejack demanded as she turned toward me. “Wait, what’s that on yer fancy armor?”

I slowly stood up as Twilight unhitched herself from the wagon and trotted toward me. As she got near me I noticed her nostrils flaring and she stopped short. The look on her face was one of shock mixed with horror followed by a dash of jealousy.

“It’s blood”, she said quietly as she turned back around.

“Oh my goodness”, Rarity gasped. “You weren’t injured were you?”

“That’s not his blood”, Twilight said in the same emotionless voice.

“Well whose blood is it”, Applejack asked nervously.

“Woof woof”, I grinned as I turned and started walking toward town.

I heard the sound of somepony getting sick and looked back. Applejack glanced back at Fluttershy before turning her disturbed gaze back to me.

“Well, fuck.”