The Carnival of the Damned

Thud...thud...thud...

The dull sound of Ryn's head hitting the stone wall echoed through the inner dungeon as the pegasus berated himself for his apparent failure. He was in the right place sure enough, but his calculations had been off just enough to leave him so close yet so far from the elusive gypsy and Rose with him.

His captors had left him in the dank prison some time ago, and he had continued his futile struggle with the chains until his legs had begun to bleed from the effort. Now all he could do was stand in the stony cell, only the repetitive sound of his head against the wall to break the monotonous silence.

Thud...thud...thud...WHACK!

He winced, having put too much effort into that last blow. Ryn didn't have time to contemplate the stupidity of this last action however, as the sound of the latch overhead alerted him to another's presence.

"Hey! Are you going to let me go now?! Hello?" A quiet squeak of fear answered him as the petite pink mare from the kitchen slowly descended the stairs carrying a small tray with a loaf of fresh bread and a cup of water. She trembled as she reached the ground level, careful not to spill as she set the tray down in front of the shackled pegasus.

"Ah...umm...th-that is...I-I thought you might be starting to get a little hungry, so I... H-Here!" She nudged the tray forward, turning tail in preparation to bolt out of the dungeon.

"W-Wait! How am I supposed to eat like this?" She turned at his response as he rattled the chains that bound him to the far wall.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry! I f-forgot." She cringed, prepared for a wrathful tirade from the other.

Ryn merely blinked in confusion of her actions. "Umm...I'm not going to hurt you. Why are you so scared?"

"Y-You were so angry earlier." The mare shivered, remembering his outbursts in the kitchen.

"Well how would you feel if you fell into some strange house only to have guards beat you senseless?" Ryn scoffed as she paled.

"I-I guess I didn't think about that..." They both stood in silence for a few minutes longer, Ryn's stomach finally breaking the awkward pause with an even more awkward grumble for food. He flushed in embarrassment, but the mare only giggled.

"Wh-what's so funny?"

"Nothing! I'm sorry!" His flustered acts helped to dissolve her lingering fears of the stranger, and she moved closer to offer the bread to him. "Say 'Ah!'."

"C-can't I just feed myself?" As embarrassed as he already was, Ryn would not stand for any more actions that would prove humiliating for him.

"I really am sorry, but I can't let you out." She looked at the shackles apologetically. "I mean, I believe your innocence, sir-"

"Ryn." He corrected. "My name is Ryn."

"O-Oh! I believe that you are innocent, Ryn, but if the Lord finds out that I took off the chains...e-even for you to eat, I..." She shivered, obviously not willing to risk going against orders. Ryn frowned, huffing as he reluctantly opened his mouth.

"Fine...Ah..." She broke off a small piece of bread as the pegasus ate it. "Hmmm... this isn't half bad. Did you make this?"

The pink pony beamed with pride. "Y-yes, I did! I'm Licorice, the cook here in the castle."

He swallowed the piece thoughtfully. "I thought everypony here was a blood drinker. Why would they need a cook? After all, you're mortal right? What are you doing in a place like this?"

Licorice pondered for a moment, giving the prisoner another piece of bread as she spoke. "N-not all of the ponies here are like that. Most of them are really very nice, and quite a few eat normal food too. Apothecarium eats regularly, so does Malphas on occasion. Lazorus too. Lazorus loves when I bake cookies, cakes and other sweets. In fact, he's the reason I'm allowed to stay here. Otherwise, well, I wouldn't have much of anything." She smiled almost wistfully in remembrance before shaking her head and offering Ryn another chunk of bread. "Oh, but that was a long time ago. I'm happy here. They treat me very nicely, and I'm allowed to wander about for the most part." Ryn watched the mare for any signs of insincerity on her part. He swallowed the last piece of bread with as much of a shrug as he could manage.

"Hmph...they all seem pretty stuck up to me. Especially the guards." His jaw still ached after the pummeling received from the captain, and he winced at the sharp pain of his ribs. "I'll be lucky if nothing is broken. Stupid captain."

"Yes, Luferius scares me. He's always so strict, and he yells quite a bit." She held up the cup of water to Ryn, hoping for a change of subject. "Umm... wh-why are you here anyway? That is, if it's okay to ask. I mean, we don't get many others here, and very few even dare to venture close."

The pegasus swallowed the water, his stomach quieting down after the small bit of sustenance. "My friend is here, somewhere. She was taken by a pony with a wooden caravan. I came here to find her and bring her home."

"Oh! You must mean the carnival! They have lots of wooden caravans over there!" She smiled excitedly. "Oh, I love the Carnival of the Damned! So many fun rides and games. They come here every year. Did you try looking there for your friend?"

Ryn's eyes widened as he struggled once more with the chains, fueled by the food and the prospect of finding Rose. "Well, I would have if it weren't for those bloody guards! Where is it? Is it near here?!" She nodded, stepping backwards at his abrupt outbursts.

"Y-yes... you can even see it from the balconies. It's very very close."

"Let me out! I need to get there now! I have to find Rose!" He continued pulling at the chains, the wounds of his legs opening up once more to splatter blood onto the metal links.

Licorice gasped in amazement. "R-Rose? Miss Immortal Rose is your friend? Oh my! Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Without a second thought she hurriedly went to retrieve the keys from the nearby stand. Ryn stared in amazement as she swiftly turned the key in the lock, the shackles falling off to clang loudly as they hit the cell's floor.

"Y-you're going to let me go that easily?" His confusion at the reasoning was almost on par with his bafflement on how swiftly she had changed her mind regarding him.

"Well of course, silly! If Rose needs help, she shouldn't be kept waiting. Besides, she's a good friend of mine." She giggled. "You know, it would have saved you a lot of time if you had mentioned her right at the beginning."

If there had been enough time, Ryn would have slammed his head into the wall a few more times for good measure. However seeing that most time had been lost, he stretched his weary limbs and spread his wings as wide as he could in the enclosed space. Licorice ducked to avoid them as Ryn surveyed the chamber.

Stone walls surrounded them, leading up to a vaulted ceiling with rafters and high stained glass windows. These were situated to only allow a small glow from the moon to filter in to light the top of the structure while leaving it's base in nearly absolute blackness. Keeping his eyes trained on one of these windows, he began flapping the wings to create powerful downward gusts. His hooves began to lift off until he was hovering in the dungeon chamber, the dust on the floor billowing in his wake. Licorice braced herself, her pigtails pulled in the wind as she called out to the other.

"M-make sure to tell her that I said hi! Oh! And Lazzy too!" She smiled, Ryn giving a grateful nod in return.

"I will. Oh, and Licorice? Thank you."

He brought his wings down with a singular thrust as the propelled him upward at blinding speeds. He spiraled about as he ascended, shattering the window easily as he soared into the light of the moon.