Encounter in the Forest {Plot}

[Gilda]

Gilda had made her way to the end of the opposing hall and its double doors by the time Bowie caught up with her. She was still huffing and puffing, visibly frustrated and shaken by whatever happened inside her vision. This constant pull by her eye into the tapestries and murals was wearing on her, and even through her angry, fiery demeanor, she appeared tired.

Indignantly, Gilda sat with her back to Bowie, arms crossed as she watched the far end of the hall and the eventual freedom she could have. "Yeah, I saw something. What gave that away?" She mocked, rolled her eyes with a sigh and turned her head back to the Diamond Dog "Destrier, you know the story right? The three heroes defeat Adversary valiantly at the cost of their own lives, yadda yadda, gag me with a spoon sappy patriotic crud. Well, yeah, Silverback got himself shredded like cheap tissue paper and Dreadwing made a perfect appetizer, and while that happened, Destrier was able to get off a wicked spell and totally whipped Adversary something fierce. Then some undead dweebs rose up, rushed the weakened unicorn and that should have been the end. Nope, totally a lie. Not sure why or how, but the undead just fell apart and Destrier stood there, alive and well without raising a hoof against them." Gilda growled lowly, "And what's worse is that blue nag back there was the one whose ancestor lived! At the expense of a great griffon! What the flying squawk is that all about. Ponies are freaking liars; Destrier probably lived the high life after the battle, not even giving a flying flip about Dreadwing. Bet some pony historian used the lie 'they all died' to cover their own flanks from the likes of us."

Gilda slumped against the wall beside her, "I'm not even sure why that makes me angry. Principle!? I dunno. So yeah, that's that. Really just want some air - stuffy under the feathers in here."

[Red Charge]

"Everyone lied." Bowie said harshly, "You lied, the ponies lied, we lied. Everyone needed someone to blame, everyone needed a reason for something that was little more than a vengeance spree by a crazed dragon. They needed a reason to explain why three of the greatest minds of the world were so easily turned against their countries, why it got so far before anyone was able to stop them. So Destrier lived, what of it? My ancestor died, according to you, just like yours. Are we going to hold a grudge to a survivor because he survived?"

"Don't you find it strange that we the descendants of the three great heroes find ourselves in one of our ancestors' tombs? There's a reason you're seeing this just the same as there's a reason the dragonling brought us here. We're meant to bring our Kingdoms together, just like our ancestors. I just know it. But we can't do it if we don't stick together, if we give in to petty bickering. Now come on, we need to go back and see what exactly is buried here, if not Destrier that is."

[Gilda]

"Ya', I get it Fido. I 'lied', (though I like to call it circumventing the truth), you probably lie, Trixie certainly lies. Everyone lies." Gilda exclaimed with wild gestures from her talons, "And yes! Not a grudge but... why HER!? Look at that Blue thing, all smug and gloating. I just want to strangle her purple! How can that thing come from somepony like Destrier - how? I mean seriously, who refers to themselves in the third-person who isn't both mental and full of themselves?" Her talons clenched before her, as if strangling a figment of Trixie before her. She eventually released her grip on the phantom pony and grumbled as she stood back up on her haunches.

"Would you stop calling it a tomb? A monument maybe, or a gigantic headache for me, but it's clearly not a tomb." She said, gesturing to the scenes lining the walls. "But you're right, something is fishy here and it's not just that stinking unicorn's lame cape. Coincidences can't be this... coincidental, or something." She breathed in deep, collecting and cooling her head. "Hey, you think that Spike back there might be Adversary's descendant? Wouldn't that be a hoot? Anyway, fine. I'll play along, but I swear to Dreadwing, if that unicorn says one more thing to tick me off, I'll strangle the life out of her." Gilda moved past Bowie, heading back into the heart of the tomb, towards where the other two were still lingering. "Coming?" She called back to him.

[Red Charge]

"No strangling." Bowie warned, as the two went back inside, navigating the cold tomb back to where they left Trixie and Spike, who were no longer there. One hand hovering over his sword's handle just in case, Bowie proceeded into the large room beyond one of the entryways and there he saw Spike and Trixie, standing over a coffin, from within the coffin, a gleam of dusty gold caught Bowie's eyes. But immediately afterwards the robed skeletons surrounding the room, all of them had their heads turned towards Bowie, giving him chills. Was it set up this way? He gave an audible gulp and took a shaky step forwards before he noticed what was going on near the coffin. Trixie was staring up blankly into space, much like Gilda had been doing earlier, while Spike was desperately trying to pull her away from the coffin, grunting with much effort.

[Gilda]

”No promises.” Gilda retorted as she followed Bowie back from whence they had come, looking for the nag and whelp. Back in the room the griffon had stormed out from, the pony and dragon were gone, the only way out being forward. Gilda let Bowie go first, not objecting to his apprehension as he reached for his sword. It was probably nothing to worry about, if something had taken them, the griffon was sure that they’d regret the decision the minute the blue one opened her muzzle.

As Gilda crossed the threshold of the crypt, she immediately caught the uneasy sense that she was being watched by the boney, blank faces of the robed bones. Eerie, she thought, while Bowie appeared all the more unnerved by the sensation. Gilda pushed past the feeling and turned to Trixie and Spike at the coffin – she couldn’t help but smirk. Least now she wouldn’t be the only seemingly crazy one in the group. Gilda walked up to Spike, putting a talon on his small shoulder. ”Don’t strain yourself, pipsqueak, she’ll snap out of it in a minute. Likely having one of those gnarly visions I’ve been having. What was she looking at anyway-“ Gilda peered into the coffin, her eyes catching the glint of gold contained within.

[Red Charge]

Bowie had followed Gilda shortly, focusing his attention at Trixie now, as well as what she was touching. Beneath dust and cobweb lay the Destrier armor, what was in Gilda's visions bright shining gold was now dull and unpolished, having laid in this tomb for what must have been centuries. Despite that however, the armor itself seemed undamaged by time, no cracks or rust... must have been the magic in it. Her greedy instinct immediately felt like snatching it, but she would never be able to get away with it with Bowie, Spike and Trixie here. Besides, if she did, they'd just report her anyway.

Trixie snapped out of her trance rather quietly and almost unnoticely, her eyes remained blank and unfocused, but this time it was obvious she was back with them. "It was them." She said shakily.

[Gilda]

Gilda recoiled quickly away from the coffin, her talons snapping back to her chest and away from anything shiny and valuable that may have perked her magpie instinct. ”I didn’t touch it!” She professed her innocence, before noticing the Trixie was not talking about her, or Bowie, but rather clearly something she had seen in the vision. Gilda stepped back, sitting on her haunches with talons crossed in front of her. She exuded a smug aura, finally, she was not the only one privy to brain stabbing visions anymore.

”Quite a trip, isn't it? So, you going to tell us who, ‘them’, are or should we guess?” The griffon asked, waiting impatiently for the unicorn to collect herself and explain the vague outburst.

[Red Charge]

Trixie's brow furrowed as though she was trying to make sense of what she had seen. She opened her mouth to speak a few times, as though trying to figure out a coherent way to explain what she's seen. Gilda's attention was turned entirely to Trixie while Bowie took another look at the skeletons around them, though he didn't see them move, he suddenly noticed they were still looking at him despite the change from his previous position. It unnerved him and he felt his fur stand on end.

Trixie bit her lip, apparently trying to explain something she saw in her vision to herself but failing. "If we're here for that armor, we better take it and leave quickly." Bowie said, Trixie ignored him and Spike seemed increasingly scared.

"Uhh, Trix... I," He said, looking around at the skeletons, "I don't think we're welcome here anymore..."

"I second that," Bowie said, hand hovering over his sword still, struggling between the wish to preserve this tomb and not getting killed by creepy robed skeletons. Trixie was silent for a few more tense moments, in which nothing happened before finally saying.

"The King and the Queen... it wasn't the Adversary who killed them... it was our ancestors."

[Gilda]

Gilda was perplexed by the news, thinking for a moment as to what Trixie was saying. King and Queen, she thought whose king or queen? As it slowly dawned on her what the unicorn was saying, her expression went from one of confusion to concern. ”Wait, you’re saying like the King and Queen, as in the The King and Queen?” Her beak hung slack, feeling as if she was just sucker-punched in the chest. ”That… wasn’t expecting that; wicked.”

Gilda plopped back on all four, turning around to meet Spike and Bowie. Their incessant insistence on bailing seemingly silly, but she was not against the idea. She really hated this place and finally others were in agreement. ”I hate this place as much, if not more than you two, but seriously – they’re just lame bones. If they’re bugging you that much, just turn their heads around or something.” Gilda gave a sideways glanced to a row of skeletons, sensing what the others were so concerned about. Something about the robed figures felt unnatural, maybe it was just an optical illusion, a trick, she told herself. The other’s fears were starting to manifest itself inside her and she would have none of that. ” This place is starting to get extra-creepy. Yeah, Trixie, maybe just grab the stuff and let’s go before they wet themselves.” She said as she slowly skirted towards the exit, suspiciously watching the robed figures.

[Red Charge]

"You said... you said Destrier wasn't dead." Bowie said to Gilda, "You said he was alive... You think he's the one doing this? Attacking Equestria I mean..." Bowie asked, Trixie looked distraught at that notion.

"It can't be, Destrier is a pony, if what I heard about Sharp is right he'd never follow a pony." She argued, still hesitating to grab the armor. "Why would he leave his armor here anyway even if he did?"

"Is that all that's in there? The armor?" Spike asked, climbing over the edge to have a look, "But he could be any one of those skeletons around us couldn't he? I mean, dude has a creepy taste in decoration... but I can't believe he just left the armor here and buried a bunch of ponies with it."

"Destrier wasn't just a regular pony, he was Silverback's best friend, they fought side by side, perhaps this is all a coup and he promised Sharp the restoration of Silver City, it would be within his power."

[Gilda]

Gilda waved off Bowie’s question with a talon, she had no idea if Destrier was behind all the recent troubles or not. That was ages ago; surely he couldn’t still be alive and evil, she thought. ”How would I know!? He was alive after the Adversary ate the rest of our ‘so-many-great’ grandfathers, doesn’t mean he’s still ‘bucking’ now.” Gilda exclaimed, making air-quotes around the word, ‘bucking’.

Anxiously, the griffon tapped a claw against the stone floor as the other three mused between themselves, till interrupting, ”What does it matter right now, just take what we came here for and lets go. We can speculate on current events outside.” She said with an air of urgency, before taking another look to the coffin and the armor contained within. ”Unless you think the thing is trapped and this has all been a ruse to lure the four of here so we can be killed swiftly and without witnesses the moment we take it. I mean, how many of us would be missed if we just disappeared. Except for you, Pipsqueak, guessing the purple horse might wonder where you wandered off to.” She said matter-of-factly, ”Just saying. Certianly would be the cherry on this lame week sundae.”

[Red Charge]

The four stayed silent as Gilda's suggestion seeped through. "Now why'd you have to go and say that?" Bowie asked, straightening back the fur on his head. "So anyone going to grab that or..."

"Who's voting to break all the skeletons before we touch the armor? I sure do!" Spike said, Trixie nodded slowly, still trying to digest what she's witnessed. Bowie seemed hesitant, he looked at Gilda before taking a hesitant step towards the nearest pony skeleton. The head seemed to stare blankly at him, yet Bowie could not see it turn. The Diamond Dog took out his sword and used the tip to poke the skeleton. It didn't budge, Bowie gave out a little sigh of relief, turning back to the others and shrugging before he felt something poking him back and immediately jumped in the air, landing in Gilda's arms.

"It touched me!"

[Gilda]

Gilda caught Bowie with a struggling grunt. For a scrawny mutt, he weighed more than she expect, especially being taken by surprise. She gave him one stern, frustrated glare and let him drop on his tail. ”Seriously, dude, its bones. Aren’t dogs supposed to like bones? Stop being such a dweeb.” Gilda circled around Bowie and approached the skeleton perpetrator that had given the Diamond Dog such a fright, giving a look over. She saw nothing; it looked like creepy old bones in moldy old robes. Macabre, yes, but hardly appeared alive or malicious in its current state. She prodded its robe with a talon, before she reared her talon and back-handed the creepy skull in an attempt to knock it off its perch.

Gilda hadn’t expected the bones to be so well attached and the smack stung, jarring her bones. She stumbled back, messaging her sore talon, growling at the source of her pain. ”See, nothing, it can’t hurt you – long as don’t smack it. They’re just stupid bone statue-things. Somepony’s creepy sense of style.” She flicked her wrist as she pain ebbed away. ”Trixie, just grab the armor and let's go.”

[Red Charge]

But as Gilda turned back to talk to Trixie, she recieved her own backhand to the face, sending her tumbling down to where the coffin was. The statues immediately turned full body to face the four. hooves withdrawing into their robes and drawing what appeared to be etheral swords... battle-mage swords. The skeleton that Gilda backhanded had his hood dropped down to the neck and she could see it was a unicorn and not only so, its skull was now adorned with glowing runes, as well as the others. One skeleton lay still at the other edge of the room, it did not seem to bear a different attire than the rest, but yet it still did not move where the others were closing on the group.

Bowie immediately drew his sword, while Trixie levitated the armor out of the tomb, "let's get the hay out of here." She said, Spike was about to agree with her before stumbling over and falling into the coffin. From within the coffin a spider hissed at the dragon. "Oh yeah?" Spike asked, breathing a small puff of flame in the spider's face, causing it to flee, "Take that." He was immediately lifted in the air by Trixie and placed on her back.

"We need to leave now."

"We can't, we're surrounded," Said Bowie, watching the approaching skeletons with worry.

[Gilda]

Gilda rubbed the growing lump forming under her crest feathers, that thing, the statue of bones, certainly knew how to smack a griffon about. Her head spun as she slowly pushed herself off the ground and back onto her paws. She slipped between the other three, talons at the ready – though she doubted their usefulness after the one she smacked shrugged it off like she were a gnat.

”Oh, great and powerful one, we could use some of that magic right about now.” Gilda exclaimed, backing up slowly from the approaching advisories. She couldn’t help by cringe at the sight of the wicked battle-mage swords poised to separate the group’s heads from their bodies. Past that, her annoying eye caught the sight of the one thing not trying to currently kill them at the moment. ”Anyone have any suggestions? And why in Tartarus is that one boney dweeb not moving!?”