With the passage sealed, the two celebrated their newfound entry into the adventuring lifestyle with a healthy round of panic. Looking around in the darkness, sealed away from the sun and escape, they trembled in one another's grasp a moment before Diamond Tiara asked, "Can you do some magic? You magicked the lizard thing, right?"
Silver Spoon ceased her trembling, frowning in the dark. "Maybe? G-good idea." She pulled her hooves back and pressed them together. "Luminace, can you hear me? A little light would be nice, please? Like, we can't read without light. That's important, right?" She felt and itchiness in her right hoof and waved it, accidentally bonking Diamond Tiara's currently-tiny tiara, which began to glow with a bright white light.
Diamond Tiara grinned widely. "I knew you could do it." She rose to her hooves as if she had never been frightened, and climbed up along Silver Spoon's hoof to get to her head. "Well, we're not going back, so we should go forward? Yes, we should go forward." She looked around the floor. "Keep your eyes open for more traps though."
Silver Spoon advanced with her Diamond Tiara headdress, looking slowly and carefully for traps, but they seemed to have tapered off as she went, giving way to stones with engravings of griffons in various regal poses. "It's too bad Dark Streak isn't here. I bet she'd recognize some of this stuff."
Diamond Tiara nodded. "Maybe, but she flew off and left us behind, so who cares about her?"
Silver swiveled an ear to face the tiny Diamond. "She did the best she could. I hope she's alright... They were firing a lot of arrows, maybe she got shot down?"
Diamond Tiara bit back her initial urge and pointed ahead instead. "We have to find the way out of here, or we'll never find out, will we?"
Silver nodded quickly and stepped further into the dark, thankful for the light coming from her friend's tiny crown to see by. "At least there aren't monsters in here."
Diamond sank to her belly on Silver's head. "You just jinxed it. I'm calling it here, monster in ten minutes or less. Take this." She held out her eency tiny dagger. Silver accepted it, and when it fell into her hoof it expanded to full size. "Huh. I'd better be careful of that."
Silver waved the dagger around a little before walking with it in hoof, clanging softly against the ground with each step. "I hope I don't have to use this."
Her hopes were dashed a mere few minutes later. The tunnel began to thicken with webs and Silver cut her way through when with her dagger until a spider almost the size of a pony emerged from the dark, fangs dripping with an unknown venom. With Silver's shriek of surprise, a bubble shimmered into existence around her just in time to turn the creature's fangs away, but it was already preparing for a fresh lunge.
Silver Spoon lifted her dagger and thrust it wildly at the thing, making it dance and bob around her blows. Diamond Tiara offered advice from where she sat on Silver's head, despite being swung left and right, holding on tightly as she hollered orders.
The spider ducked under an artless stab and reared up on Silver Spoon, sinking its fangs into her shoulder. She squealed and yanked back away from it as she thrust her dagger forward. The weapon sank into the creature, punched through its carapace and found the tender meat inside.
The two glared at one another, bloodied but stubborn. Diamond whispered in an ear, "Go for its eyes. If it can't see you, it'll be a lot easier."
Silver thought the idea was far more easily said than accomplished, but steeled herself. Being the aggressor wasn't working, so she shifted to the defense and prayed for her new god to help her, though it seemed it was mostly up to her to defend herself.
The spider circled around her as she turned with it, keeping it in clear view. Her glasses were skewed, making the spider only visible in part of her vision, but she dared not take the time to adjust them with it so close. It attacked, practically leaping at her. She dove forward, Diamond Tiara squealing as she fell to the ground, but Silver had no time to worry about that. She brought up her dagger as she jumped, and cut a new wicked line on the spider's underbelly.
Enraged, the spider wheeled around and attacked without delay, and Silver swatted at its grasping mandibles wildly. Her glasses fell free entirely, clattering to the ground and leaving the battlefield hazy. She could make out the large form of the spider, and that would have to be enough. "Diamond?"
Diamond Tiara had scaled the beast while it was thoroughly engaged with Silver Spoon. Grimacing at the thought of being in contact with the vile creature, she pressed forward anyway, quickly scaling to its head. The spider seemed to notice her in earnest then, looking up at her with all its eyes. She clenched her teeth and bore down with her hooves, pulverizing several eyes in a gooey spray of viscera.
The spider reared up in shock and pain, legs spasming wildly. Silver charged forward, running right into the beast and not stopping until all three of them crashed into the far wall, driving her dagger deep into the twitching and dying form of the spider.
Diamond Tiara slipped between the spider and the wall to collapse to the ground, panting. "Watch where you're shoving those things around..."
Silver Spoon pulled her dagger back, still not able to accurately see what she was doing. "Diamond Tiara? Can you find my glasses please? I don't want to, like, step on them."
"Yeah yeah... here they are." She picked up the glasses far too large to wear herself. "Follow my voice. So, hey, you alright? You got bit by that thing."
Silver approached the blob that appeared to be Diamond and settled in front of her. "It hurts where it bit me, but I'm fine otherwise. Did we win?"
Diamond laughed a little. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was still ready to eat us." She tilted her head before moving to clamber up Silver Spoon. "Stay still a moment..." Soon she dropped the glasses into place, restoring Silver's vision.
She smiled gratefully. "Thanks! Gosh, I was so scared. What happened?"
Diamond waved one of her gorey hooves. "I did what I said to do, mashed its eyes. Serves it right for trying to eat my right-hoof mare. Do you have any water? We're both icky to the max."
Silver frowned, and put her hooves together. "Luminace? I'm sorry for bothering you so much today, but if you could, like, some water? Just a little would be nice, thanks!" Her spell complete, water began to rain down on them in a gentle mist, but did little to clean them.
Diamond Tiara blinked. "I think you need some practice with that. Maybe make the water in a specific place?"
Silver spotted a clay bowl and brought it over before trying again, focusing on the inside of the bowl. A little raincloud appeared over the bowl and began to rain into it. She washed her hooves in the rain, then dipped it into the bowl and got to cleaning, with Diamond quickly joining her. "Great job, Silver Spoon. Maybe this, uh, what's it called? Whatever it is, it's useful."
Silver Spoon shook her hooves dry and nudged the bowl to the side. "When do you think that'll wear off?"
Her ability to predict the future remained as keen as ever as Diamond Tiara rapidly expanded to her usual height. "Now is good." She looked herself over for anything missing, then held out her hoof. "I'll take the dagger back."
Silver offered the gore encrusted dagger and Diamond pointed at the bowl. "Clean it first." After some scrubbing, the dagger was clean enough for her to slip away for later use. "So how do I do that? I want magic too."
Silver shrugged softly. "I have to pray and mean it." She glanced away then back at Diamond Tiara. "I don't think it's your kind of magic."
Diamond frowned, but the logic of it was not wasted on her. "Yeah... I want magic I control, not somepony else. Who is this Luminace anyway?"
Silver dug out her book and pointed to the illustration. "Her, remember?"
Diamond leaned in and peered. "Pfft, I'm not bowing to any princess."
Silver put her hooves at her hips as she stood up. "This princess saved your life, remember. You can at least be grateful."
Diamond rolled her eyes. "You saved my life, Silver Spoon. She just helped you do that. I won't give her credit for what my wingmare did. Was she there running from crazy lizard people with us? No? Exactly."
Silver frowned a little. "Well I'm giving her some credit. She's been really nice to me." She looked around the web-filled corridor and pointed forward. "Should we keep going?"
They advanced side-by-side, leaving the dead spider behind and soon all its webbing as well. They arrived in what appeared to be a foyer, with very fancy, but not very comfortable-looking, benches of stone and iron set up along the periphery, leading to double doors.
Diamond approached the doors, squinting. "Is that gold?"
Silver looked with her, nodding as she reached out a hoof and traced the delicate lines of gold that ran through the double stone doors. "Whoever owned this place must have been rich."
Diamond clapped Silver on the shoulder. "That's us, now! We just have to find a way out of here."
There was a heavy iron ring on either door, and they grabbed one each and pulled the door open with the dull rumble of stone against stone. Ancient air escaped from deeper within, and the only light remained the one that they brought with them.
Diamond pointed up at her tiara. "Why don't you use that spell again and make more light?"
Silver blinked. "Oh yeah." She looked around, then settled on her bow, touching it as she prayed for light. The bow began to glow brightly as the tiara snuffed out, going dark. "Aw..."
Diamond huffed. "Figures. Oh well, we'll have to work with what we have. What I wouldn't pay for a real flashlight right about now." She began to trot into the recently exposed tunnel, looking around the hallway as she went. "Come on, Silver Spoon! The faster we find the exit, the better."
Silver Spoon scurried after Diamond, and soon they reached a door to the left, a basic-looking wooden door. Time hadn't been kind to it, half hanging free of its ancient hinges. Silver gave a soft nudge, and it simply fell inwards, striking the ground with a loud slap. "Hello?"
A soft moan was her reply, and something moved in the darkness. Silver Spoon drew her bow free as Diamond Tiara pulled out her dagger. Shambling to greet them was the form of a griffon, long dead and far decayed, reaching for them with dried but still-rotting talons.
And this is when Diamond Tiara discovers she's a necromancer, and commands the undead to follow her orders?
Who says low-level encounters are boring? Though Tiara should be careful what she says about the gods. Luminace is understanding, but others... Yeah, that might not end well.
Still, Silver is learning how her new abilities work, and if there's anything Tiara does well, it's utilizing available resources.
Ancient typos lie in the darkness:
"Spoon" should be capitalized and "headdress" is one word.
This is a question and should be punctuated as such.
6194169 They made a good accounting for themselves overall. The typos have been cast into the dark depths, where they will plague nopony else.
this is going to take a lot of pane and pashons to change diamond.
6194125 This. My gods, this.
6193270 I said, "what is it if not". It was a rhetorical structure meant to show that I think cowardice is protecting yourself when you know you should do something else.
Dark Streak decided to leave the fillies, so there are only three possibilities:
1. She thought that leaving the fillies would help the fillies
2. She thought the fillies deserved whatever they got
3. She was a coward
The bubble didn't shriek in surprise, Silver did. Perhaps you could say "Silver shrieked in surprise and a bubble shimmered..."
I suggest making this two sentences:
"She squealed and yanked back away from it as she thrust her dagger forward. The weapon sank into the creature, punched through its carapace and found the tender meat inside."
Springing is the same as leaping.
simple-looking
How is Diamond able to climb moving creatures? Holding things with hooves is one thing, but climbing a live creature is even difficult for creatures with hands.
Silver is picking up the rules for clerics really fast. In Pathfinder, it's one of the classes that has an older starting age because of the years of study required. I suppose she's just a prodigy? I like that Luminace doesn't seem to care how awkwardly Silver phrases her prayers; it's not as if you could impress the goddess of knowledge with your big words anyway.
6195737 Fixes applied, and Silver Spoon is clearly getting unfair bias, the little cheat. Luminace failed to get an Equestrian last time, with Twilight departing without ever calling to her, and this little filly really needs her help. Also she's not a cleric.
I believe the proper term is "magicked."
That second instance of the word "Tiara" shouldn't be capitalized.
Dried but "still-rotting" talons.
6195183 That sort of flies in the face of what you were saying before, since you were positing that it definitively was cowardice on her part.
6196743 Typos banished with the light!
6196758 This chapter saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon heading deeper into the dungeon. While they had little choice in the matter (though it would have been nice to see them at least try to work that door open), I couldn't help but think of just how badly they're getting in over their heads.
That said, the action scene where they fought the spider was well-written; I found the action easy to follow, and the sequence was suitably dramatic. It was also helpful to have the fillies up against a mindless opponent first, since something with no concept of tactics - as well as not being sentient, and thus avoiding any moral qualms - was something suitably their speed. That seems like it's going to be the same with the zombie that they're about to face.
It's a little curious that there are undead to be found within a place dedicated to the Sun King. If I recall correctly, there aren't really any gods among the griffon pantheon that champion the undead, so that makes it a bit curious to consider that there's at least one unliving griffon here. Presumably there's some sort of story behind that, but it's questionable in the extreme if these two will figure it out. I say that since they're still young enough and few enough that they should be focused on survival first and foremost, though Diamond Tiara seems rather happy at how much gold this place has. I doubt she'll be able to capitalize on it one way or the other, though - unless she plans on harvesting it herself, I doubt the local griffon population will take kindly to a pony looting one of their tombs.
The sequence where the fillies talked about magic was interesting, too. This pretty well summarized that Diamond Tiara isn't going to be any sort of divine spellcaster; the greater question is what sort of character she will be. She clearly doesn't want to fight, but at the same time I wonder about her dedicating herself to arcane spellcasting quite as much as that would seem to require; she's no egghead, after all. As it is, I suspect that she'll want to follow a path that most directly leads to directing others, but I'm not entirely sure what class that'd be.
Of course, this all presumes that they'll live long enough to find out, which at this moment is very much in doubt.
6196845 The mystery deepens. Coming in here wasn't the wisest decision they ever made, but it's also not quite the stupidest one either. (poking at Applejack while she was possessed still wins).
What class will Diamond Tiara find satisfaction in? Only time will tell, but it'd better be amazing! Or there will be hell to pay. Hmmph.
6196912 It'll be some sort of class that likely specializes in battlefield control, and dealing out buffs to allies, since that's the combat equivalent of being a manager (or rather, a general). While it'd presumably give her some direct offense and defense spells, I can see her preferring to be the one who sits back and has everyone else just do what she tells them, while she then scolds them afterwards if they don't live up to her expectations.
Well, that took longer than expected. You really never know who'll drop by unannounced it seems. Now, back to reading!
That was weird. Wasn't she turned into a cat? Or was she just turned small and happen to resemble a kitty? O.o
This was a pretty cute chapter so far. Now to see how mister cranky McGrif greets our two 'guests'.
P.S. What ever happened to Diamond's spear?
6203322
She shrank to the size of a cat, but didn't become a cat.