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Post by Red Charge on Dec 10, 2013 9:41:58 GMT -5
"Hang on!" Trixie shouted diving in the coffin herself, the armor in tow. Spike landed behind Bowie and clung to his leg, peeking behind it at the approaching skeletons.
"What are you doing?" Bowie yelped at Trixie, aghast at the thought of facing these skeletons by himself.
"Fulfilling my destiny!" She called back irritably.
"I can't use the sword here, it'll collapse the entire tomb on our heads!" Bowie realized, he couldn't control the sword, a shockwave here could cause the entire tomb to collapse, he had to be extremely careful not to hit anything not intended with it.
The skeletons charged, the first one going sword first at Bowie, who was barely able to dodge it, having to deflect it with his own sword in the process and nearly kicking Spike with his clumsiness. About three more went to attack him and he had to swing his sword in a wide arc to keep them back while on Gilda's end it wasn't any better.
Spike, after having being nearly kicked away by Bowie jumped on top of the tomb and tried remembering if he ever read anything in Twilight's library about undead... or battlemage swords... or Destrier.
He breathed a weak flame at one of the skeletons descending on Gilda, causing its robe to catch fire, which did not faze it but instead made it that much more dangerous for Gilda.
"Sorry!"
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Dec 11, 2013 1:15:26 GMT -5
As the skeleton fell upon Gilda, she let out a defiant squawk as her talons snapped and grasped at the creature’s boney wrists, keeping the sword high as fell back onto her wings. ”This isn’t helping!” She scolded the young dragon as it’s ethereal flames enveloped the dry, disintegrating robes of her assailant. The griffon balled up, pinning the skeleton between her hindpaws and kicked out, while pushing up with her wings, throwing the thing back into the others of its kind. Her foot pads burned as she recovered into a low hover, but she’d live, she felt so long as she could fly for a little while.
”Trixie, fulfill anytime now!” Gilda was behind Bowie now, fluttering just off the ground. As the skeletons encroached, Gilda flexed her talons as butterflies filled her stomach. Trapped in an enclosure, nowhere to run, and no weapon, she was feeling the pressure. This was not a good spot to be as a griffon. ”Oh GP, we’re gonna die here. Maybe be a dear and KNOCK THEM DOWN LIKE YOUR BUCKING ANCESTOR DID!”
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Post by Red Charge on Dec 25, 2013 16:58:55 GMT -5
The skeletons dodged Bowie's wide swing and tried to get at him while he was reeling from it. However the dog lost his balance and stumbled with the blade's momentum into a few of the Skeletons closing in on Gilda and toppled atop the broken pile of bones he had inadvertantly created.
Spike jumped back in surprise, "Sorry!" He called out, looking behind to Trixie, as large metal clanks were heard. A skeleton jumped at Gilda from behind, swiping at her with his magical blade but the agile griffon was able to dodge, a two legged skeleton which survived Bowie's wild swing jumped at her from behind, biting into her wing.
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Dec 27, 2013 21:04:39 GMT -5
Gilda let out a surprised and pained yelp as she felt a set of teeth sink into the thick of her wing and begin to tear at the flesh and feathers. In that moment, the griffon shot her elbow back into the skull of her assailant and kicked back, slamming it into the wall behind her. Again, and again, she slammed the creature into the wall trying to shake it loose, sending a few punches around her head in a desperate attempt to get it off her.
”Let me go!” She demanded as she fell back on all four before jumping up, using her good wing to get enough power to slam the skeleton into the ceiling and falling back to the ground. ”Bowie! Need – sword – now!”
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2014 14:44:01 GMT -5
Having gotten up from the pile of bones he was on, Bowie was trying to fend back another of the skeletons when Gilda called.
"Wha?" Bowie asked, turning around, sword waving helplessly, he'd have nearly decapitated Gilda had the latter not ducked, instead he was able to successfully remove the skeleton off of her by smashing it into bits, the momentum also taking out the skeleton that was attacking him in the first place.
At that point Trixie emerged from the coffin, clad in Destrier's golden armor, eyes practically aglow with the power coursing through her from the suit. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is ready to kick some flank." She announced, only to find out that the entire skeleton group had already been crushed by Bowie's clumsiness.
"I think you missed your cue there, Great and Powerful one..." Spike said with a snicker.
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Jan 1, 2014 15:43:00 GMT -5
Gilda threw off the dust and bones from her fur and feathers, while the moldy remnants of the fallen foes caused her to stifle a sneeze. The close shave from Bowie’s stellar swordsmanship left part of a crest feather sheared off, trying to fix it with her talons was futile and with a disgruntled sigh, plucked the cut feather from her head and discarded it. ”You’re a regular Errol Fetlock with that thing, Bowie.” She mocked, patting the Diamond Dog on his back.
As Trixie finally emerged from the safety of her tomb, Gilda run her talon over her face and beak as the pony exclaimed her intention; there was an audible groan from the griffon. ”Nice, really nice.” Said the griffon between sarcastic applause, ”Glad you took your time, did you give it a good polish while you were hiding in there as well? Friggun dweb.”
With their moment of rest, Gilda checked her wing. The bite wasn’t as bad as she thought it was, least from her initial inspection. It would be a little while before she could fly, unless she could get it attended too – which didn’t appear likely inside the tomb. ”So, can we leave now?”
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2014 15:51:46 GMT -5
Bowie immediately went to the work of wiping off every patch of dirt off his person, almost frantically before smoothing his hair again.
"So I guess that's the real Destrier then." Bowie said after finally inspecting himself and making sure all of the dust, mold and cobwebs were off, nodding at the one skeleton that never animated, the one directly opposite of the doors they came in.
Trixie looked at it for a moment, "I guess so. Kind of disillusioning seeing such a powerful figure stripped to the bone and hung up like a statue... I guess death is more powerful than any pony."
"This is deep and all, but can we get outta here?" Spike asked, "My Spike sense is telling me I don't want to spend another second more than I have to here."
"I agree." The Diamond Dog chimed in, "It's much less homey after the crazy dog-eating skeletons."
At that the group moved out to the entry hall, Trixie clanking with every step. "This really needs some getting used to. But I can't WAIT to try this out." She said, an ominous crackle of lightning passing through the helmet's horn.
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Jan 1, 2014 18:34:04 GMT -5
Gilda snorted, looking to the skeleton supposedly of Destrier, "Yeah, well, probably better than having rotted in the ground under some unnamed rock or eaten like a prawn." Disparagingly Gilda asserted, a part of her both guilty for saying such about a renowned warrior while another part was vindicated to see the pony succumb to the same fate her ancestor had.
As they departed, Gilda was elated, she would have bounded out of the tomb if she could. Stretch her wings and shoot out of place like a popped cork. The dreariness of the place was enough to make a griffon restless; not withstanding being stuck with a couple of dweebs.
"Think they were craving wings more-" Gilda retorted back to Bowie, flashing her wounded wing, inciting a wince of pain from the griffon. The pain was quickly forgotten when Trixie let the magic start to crackle from her horn, sending that all to familiar, icky feeling, up the griffons spine.
"Keep it in your helmet, GP. Have had enough of magic for one day." She shot the pony a disgruntled glance, "You look ridiculous in that, by the way. I'm just saying, but you might want to get it readjusted or like, transform into a stallion or something. Speaking of which, we need to get to some form of civilization soon. Not really keen on making the Everfree Forest home."
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Post by Red Charge on Feb 10, 2014 6:50:03 GMT -5
As Gilda passed along the portrait of the Three Heroes standing together again, she stopped. She hadn't noticed it before, but something was terribly familiar about Silverback in this painting. She couldn't place a talon on it, but she felt like it was something she should remember.
"Didn't you look at this one already?" Bowie asked as he passed her, "Come on, we need to get going. I'm not staying here even a minute more than I have to."
Finally back at the entrance hall and up the steps outside... soon they would finally feel fresh air again. How Bowie longed for the smell of real air and no the dank stench of a tomb.
As they climbed the final few steps towards freedom, their eyes met a grim scene - Core Hounds, about half a dozen spread around the clearing. It was almost as though they were sniffing them. Almost as though they knew they were there.
"The Princess is sick, you have to help her." A voice spoke in Gilda's head.
"They have another princess." Another voice replied firmly.
"The King and Queen will be devastated if the Princess dies, Equestria will fall apart. We cannot afford this, not now." The first voice replied, by now she could recognize it, though much older, the voice of Destrier.
"Then cure her with your magic." The other replied.
"You know as well as I do that even magic can't save those who have no will to live." Destrier retorted harshly.
Gilda could hear Trixie and Bowie as they planned out their attack on the Core Hounds, but couldn't make out what they were saying with the voices talking in her head.
"All of this over a pet? Just give her a tortoise, those live for ages."
"It has to be eternal. Nothing less will do."
"She wants a pet, not a golem."
"We both know that is not beyond your capability, a living golem, you've done it before." After that there was a long moment of silence, where Gilda was able to focus again on what was going on, Bowie and Trixie both turned to her and tried to get her attention.
"You know my price, Destrier." The other voice said after the moment of silence.
Another moment of silence, before she heard the resigned Destrier say, "Very well."
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Feb 22, 2014 18:35:52 GMT -5
”Ya, ya. Just...” The griffon shook her head as Bowie inquired. There was just something about the Diamond Dog that struck an odd cord with her, but since she couldn't place what it was, she ignored it and caught up with the others. She had enough dilly-dallying in this place and wanted out as much, if not more, then the others. Just a few more steps and they were free-
Gilda quickly hunkered down with others as they spotted yet another roadblock in their quest for freedom from the bowels of the stone Hay they had come to know all too well. ”Lame, I hate these guys-” Suddenly Gilda cut herself off in her whisper as every sound around her was drowned out, as if she was trying to hear a conversation happening while her head was below water, muffled and distant, while a new separate conversation pierced her ears with crystal clarity.
She tried to make out what they were saying and who, though only recognized one voice in particular, that of Destrier. Knowing this was likely another off-shoot of her annoying visions, she tried her hardest to make out key words: princess, sick, pet? That last word struck her odd, the princess wanted a pet? Which Princess? From the sound of it this was either about Luna or Celestia, but the context was still so muddled. She continued to listen as the mysterious voice spoke of the living golem and the price. Was this some sort of sacrifice, she pondered, did Destrier do something to get this 'golem' for the Princess?
Before she could completely analyze the words, they were gone and her head was above water once again. It took her a brief moment to recollect herself and to find Bowie and Trixie giving her an annoyed stink-eye. ”Sorry – another episode. You two were saying?”
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Post by Red Charge on Apr 20, 2014 17:56:26 GMT -5
But at that point another volley of arrows was shot in their direction, forcing the group back into the tomb to avoid it. The armored specters began to close in on the entrance.
"Grr, it seems like there's always some archers covering those things. How are we going to get out of here?"
"Leave it to me." Spike piped up, "Just dash out, I'll take care of the arrows." He said, patting Trixie on the flank for her to crouch and allow him to mount her. She did so very reluctantly. She was already uncomfortable in the heavy armor without the dragon passenger on it.
"You're kidding right? What can you do to stop those arrows?" Bowie asked in disbelief, "Whatever, it's either that or get stuck here and who knows how many more of those things are out there."
He sighed and gave Trixie the sign to charge outside. Trixie, safe in her armor did so willingly, immediately moving to the side and away from the Core Hounds. Almost instantly another volley of arrows was shot at her from the trees. This time however, Spike rose up to his full miniscule height and took a deep breath, releasing a rather large breath of green flames, engulfing the arrows completely, they did not appear on the other side.
"Nice!" Bowie shouted, running after the mare.
"Hold on, it gets better!" Spike said and with a snap of his claws, the arrows reappeared with the same velocity, this time aimed towards the Core Hounds. The sheer force and amount of missiles was able to knock the majority of them to the ground while the group made it's escape.
"Of course I could have just destroyed them using MY magic." Trixie said, "But let the boy win his spurs, says I." Bowie rolled his eyes and looked back to make sure Gilda was following.
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on Apr 21, 2014 5:45:12 GMT -5
Gilda followed in step as the dragonling took charge to secure their one chance at escape from the dreadful clutches of the Core Hounds. Without the burden of precognition, or whatever infliction was forced by that damnable eye upon unscrupulous cat-bird, Gilda was free and clear to use her powerful wings to propel herself forth in accordance with the others already well on their way out of the dangerous area they had once again found themselves in. Though her muscles felt stifled, and still to a degree, even still within the confines of this insufferable forest, as they had been inside the depths of the tomb, here at least she had room to spread her wings and gain ground – worst came to worst, she could even attempt to break the canopy above and leave her new found allies to their fate with the Core Hounds, thankfully, for them them, such an occasion had not yet arose.
”Not bad, squirt.” Said the cocky griffoness as she burst beside him and Trixie, gracefully landing in a immediate sprint beside them. ”Though I swore that burp of yours – correct me if I'm wrong, was a one way line to Princess Sun Butt?” She inquired, curiously as she carried along with the others in their attempts to flee the scene. ”As much as a barrage of arrows into that pony princess's face would be freaking hilarious, you sure you're not tempting fate with that thing, 'dragon-breath?'
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Post by Red Charge on May 2, 2014 15:02:07 GMT -5
"This is breath magic, chicken-legs," He subtly emphasized the nickname, "Breath. Magic. It means I make all the decisions. I'll keep it simple for you - it's like a personal postman, he brings me mail and he takes my mail away. If I send mail, usually I get to pick where I send it to."
"That sounds pretty useful, can you use it on us and get us out of here?"
"Uh, not really. Never tried it on... you know... live things."
"Can we please focus on the now? We need to go back to Canterlot and tell Red Charge and the Princess what we found. Perhaps then the Great and Powerful Trixie will finally get the recognition she deserves!"
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Gilda
Griffons
Acolyte Griffon
I'm half-eagle, half-lion and all awesome!
Posts: 213
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Post by Gilda on May 20, 2014 13:52:44 GMT -5
"Right, for once I agree with Blue." Gilda muttered as she carried along with the others as they traversed through the forest, hopefully continuing to elude the Core Hounds. "Just... how far is Canterlot?"
The forest was still too thick, from Gilda's perspective, to get any form of bearing. She could opt to climb a tree to get above the canopy, she supposed, but that would mean eating up precious running away from the Core Hound time and they all were running a little short on that. "This even the right direction!?"
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Post by Red Charge on May 20, 2014 14:12:25 GMT -5
"You doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie?" The unicorn asked, the group was moving through the woods at a very fast pace. The Core Hounds, with their heavy clinking armor, were long lost behind them and the forest was slowly getting brighter. Wherever they were heading, it was outside of the Everfree, easy to navigate. The trees began to thin and just as they thought they were nearing the exit, everything went dark.
A noise unlike anything any of them has heard in their lifetime blasted their ears, Trixie fell into the ground, her hooves on her horn, thrashing. Bowie, holding down both of his ears was quick to lift her over his shoulder, suffering a few hooves to the face in the progress, before taking off towards the exit to the forest, to see what was going on.
With Gilda and Spike in tow, the group emerged from the Everfree into Whitetail Valley, looking up just in time to see the monstrous Sky Titan crash right into Canterlot, leaving it nothing more than a mess of debris.
Spike was too terrified to speak, Trixie was still convulsing so horribly that Bowie had to chuck her to the ground again. The Diamond Dog was just staring stone faced at the event unfolding before them, not believing.
And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over, the sun was shining and there was no Canterlot.
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