Diamond Tiara waved her dagger at the creature. "Get away, you nasty thing!" The animated corpse cared little for her feeble insult, reaching for her.
Silver sent an arrow into its ribs, striking deep into the decayed flesh. It barely seemed to recognize the injury, groaning with possible frustration as it turned its eyes towards her and began shambling towards her.
"Hey, you don't get to ignore me!" Diamond thrust her dagger powerfully, carving out a portion of its flesh with the mighty strike. That earned its attention, and it swatted her with a dull thump, knocking her back and to the ground, dizzy.
Silver grimaced and quickly nocked another arrow, landing the next in its torso, but it seemed to be having frightfully little effect. "Diamond, wake up! Hit it with your dagger!"
Diamond grunted. "Don't tell me what to do! I was going to do that anyway!" She rolled under the stumbling lunge of the zombie and brought up the dagger, hacking off the thing's tail to flop to the ground limply. "Ew, gross!"
With a discomforting sound of abused flesh, the undead griffon clubbed Diamond Tiara with an arm, and she collapsed in place, going still. Silver Spoon dropped her bow and charged the creature, succeeding in getting its attention as she ran close to it and then away, leading it away from the prone form of her friend. She noticed that it didn't move very quickly and led it out past the door before turning back and slapping the door shut in its face, actually having time to pick the door up and put it back in place before rushing to Diamond Tiara's side.
"Uh, like, so I know I've been kind of asking you for things all day long, and I'm really grateful, but can you help my friend?" She put her hooves on Diamond Tiara and warmth flowed from them into the limp form of her friend, who jerked awake with a yelp.
"What happened?"
Silver smiled. "You were super brave. It, uh, used a dirty trick to knock you out."
Diamond Tiara sat up with a huff. "Figures! I had it under control." She looked around. "Where is it?"
As if to answer the question, a loud banging came from the door Silver had shut, and the old wood giving barely any resistance before it fell apart, allowing the griffon zombie to shamble towards them. Diamond Tiara growled, "You messed up my hair, again!" She charged directly for the creature, to Silver Spoon's dismay.
Diamond met it dagger-edge first and drove it in and upwards, disemboweling the dead thing. It let out one last dry cough before it collapsed, talons feebly trying to pull its viscera back inside before unlife fled it.
Diamond tossed her dusty mane back. "Hmmph, that's what you deserve. She turned back to Silver Spoon. "Let's have a look around."
Silver gave a little nod. "Are you alright, Diamond?"
Diamond moved up beside Silver and bumped her. "As if anything could stand up to the two of us."
That brought a smile to Silver's face, and she began to look around the room. It appeared to have been some kind of office, some unknown time ago. There was a desk and a chair on either side of it, and a dresser. They rooted through it all, finding mostly the faded remnants of things long decayed. Silver poked the re-killed thing lightly, rolling it over and noticing it had something around its neck. She relieved the zombie of its necklace, staring at it. "Hey, Diamond? I think this is special."
Diamond Tiara moved over to have a look at it. She rubbed over its sooty surface and revealed gems hiding beneath the layer of grime. "Now we're talking! We'll walk into that city looking like we're in charge." She slipped the amulet around her own neck and turned left and right, showing off to no one in particular. "How does it look?"
Silver Spoon had seen the magic in it, but had no idea what that really meant, or how to decipher its aura. It was special, and that was enough. She nodded her head. "It looks, like, great on you, DT. I don't think there's anything else in here. We should keep going."
Diamond frowned at the otherwise-empty room. "Yeah, let's get moving." As they walked into the hallway, she swiveled an ear at Silver. "Just so you know, I will learn my own tricks. Don't think you're the only one who's going to come out of this with something new."
Silver Spoon nodded her head. "I'm sure it'll be really fantastic, Diamond Tiara."
Diamond smiled. "Of course it will be." They paused to do their little dance, then forged bravely into the corridor.
As they went, Silver perked an ear at her companion. "Are you sure coming in here, was, you know, a good idea? What if we can't find our way out."
Diamond shrugged. "We lost our guide. We either show up big, or we may as well give up." She poked at the amulet she wore. "This is big, but we can do better. We're going to crash that scene so hard, they won't have a choice but to recognize us."
Silver glanced back towards the tunnel they entered from before looking ahead and clip-clopping up to a door of stone set in the wall, almost invisible. She poked at it lightly. "Do you think there's something in here?"
Diamond hadn't noticed the door at first, but quickly located the cleverly-concealed handle and threw the door open without delay. Inside, a light without source flickered into being, revealing a room with a clean table on it, and a box sitting in the left and far corner. A voice began to speak from nowhere in particular. "If our defenses have failed this badly, take the weapons we've prepared for you. Let them take no prisoners, and pay dearly for any victory they find this day. For the Sun King." The male voice faded away, leaving the two fillies to wander into the room and start poking around.
Silver frowned a little. "I guess things didn't, like, work out well."
Diamond waved a hoof. "It works out perfectly for us." She approached that delectable looking box and began to poke over it while looking it over critically. It had no latch or keyhole, just an obvious hinge. "Silver Spoon, open this."
Silver came over and peered at the box. "It doesn't look heavy, why didn't you open it?" The response was a glare. "Fine..." She flipped open the chest and a fwoosh of flame greeted her. She shrieked and dived out of the way, rolling on the ground to put out the fire as quickly as she could. Despite minor scorches, she proved alright.
Diamond Tiara advanced on and opened the box, eagerly reaching in and producing a collection of hand axes, three in total, and some little glass vials. "Huh..."
Silver rolled back upright, pouting at her singed mane. "All that for some stupid axes? They're not even very big." She looked them over critically and could feel that odd 'special' feeling again. "The vials and that axe are special." She pointed at the left axe, decorated with a large symbol of the sun. The other two showed crescent moons.
Diamond quickly dropped the two inferior axes and hefted the handaxe with the sun on it, swinging it around through the air before she turned to the table and brought it down with both hooves as powerfully as she could. It bit deep into the wood and left angry scorches along the cut, glimmering with heat. Diamond looked quite pleased with her find and tucked it away and pulled out her dagger, offering it to Silver. "Now we both have a close-up weapon."
Silver tucked the dagger away with a roll of her eyes, though she had no particular desire to be close to any horrible creatures they battled with, so she saw little harm in letting Diamond have the magic axe. She pointed at the vials. "What about these?"
Diamond shrugged. "I don't really know. Let's keep them until we know more." Into a saddlebag they went. "I'm sure they're worth something."
Pinkie Pie raised a glass of wine high, the eyes of the other ponies in the room locked on it. "To a better tomorrow!" she called out, met with cheers and clops of hooves on the ground, stomping in approval." She swigged the dark drink with the others, and the dinner party could continue.
A stallion approached her with a cautious smile. "Madame, I haven't had the chance to tell you that your curious appearance has captivated me. Would you do me the honor of a dance?" He gestured to the ballroom floor, bowing his head.
She slipped to her hooves and nodded in kind, and soon they were moving to the the tune of the song. "Where have you been hiding all my life, exotic temptress of pink?"
Pinkie flashed a bright smile. "Planning parties and keeping my friends happy, mostly. Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to have seen two little fillies that look kinda like me, have you?"
He shook his head in the negative, and Pinkie sighed, but it was dancing time, not pouting time, so she finished the song with the handsome stallion. Her search would continue.
A window exploded inwards, spraying the ballroom with shards of glass as ponies swung through them and dropped to the ground, swords already held in their maws. "Everyone get on the ground! Take your jewels off nice and slowly, and nobody has to get hurt."
Pinkie scowled at the party crashers. Sure, it hadn't been her party exactly, but seeing any party get interrupted made her blood boil. She'd have to take care of them first.
Diamond moved to leave the small room, but Silver stopped her, putting a leg in the way. "Maybe we should rest here. You're still bruised from that thing from before, and I'm kind of frazzled."
Diamond frowned and poked her head out of the room, looking left and right before closing the concealed door. "Maybe you're right. This room's pretty secure. We can't stay too long. Unless we find more food, we'll end up starving to death eventually, and I will not go out that way." She huffed and settled down on the ground. "What I wouldn't do for a real bed!"
Silver settled beside her. "And a real blanket, and maybe a pillow or two."
"Yeah..."
They sighed together in shared missing of their luxuries. Silver dug out a sleeping bag that she had packed away, at least providing some shelter from the hardness of the floor, and they ended up sharing it, practically sleeping on top of one another, and finding some measure of rest despite the unusual setting of their respite.
They awoke to the sounds of some things talking just outside their room. They had company, but who was it? They couldn't know without opening the door and revealing their presence. Silently, they looked at each other, considering their course of action.
This sounds like Silver sank into the decayed flesh. A possible alternative:
"Silver's arrow hit it between the ribs, sinking into the decayed flesh."
I can't tell what "it" refers to. The zombie? The door?
Props for trying to lock the zombie out; most people seem to think the only way to beat an enemy is to destroy it.
Hitting someone in the head is such a sneaky tactic.
they
I think this would normally be "some things" or "some creatures", but it's not technically wrong, just a little strange.
6196845
She doesn't want to do anything, but when she gets mad or desperate, she consistently resorts to direct melee attacks. I still think cavalier is the best fit for her, as she is currently portrayed.
6196299
I suppose she must be a warpriest, since she has hit several times in a row with the bow, so it can't just be luck.
So if I am reading this right Diamond Tiara is a Barbarian?! Kinda funny if she ever finds out the perceived notion of her class! If Silver Spoon is a Druid that is a somewhat balanced group.
6197723 Typos thrown down a pit.
Is it wrong to want to see how they react to a cursed girdle of genderchanging?
That first magical weapon. It's a truly special moment in a young adventurer's life. Almost as momentous as the first loss of consciousness due to dipping into negative hit points, but much more enjoyable.
There's clearly a lot of history here, though Diamond can't be bothered to care about it. Still, the odds seem pretty good that her new necklace probably has some degree of cultural significance to griffons. Probably best not to look like a tomb robber, but I doubt she's going to think of that.
Also, nopony crashes a party on Pinkie's watch! At least, not in as rude a way as that. They didn't even bring chips or something!
The craftsmanship on these ancient typos is amazing! It's like they were just typed:
Capitalization needed.
Definitely not the word you're looking for.
This is a question.
6198531
That awkward moment when you try to fence an heirloom you stole from a grave and realize the deceased was the buyer's grandmother.
6198531 We had both of those things recently! Typos banished to the negative energy plane.
6202222 Fixed! Gneech has a long and profitable career ahead of himself.
Ah, reminds me of the fun RPs I had during Etrian Odyssey 4. Diamond would send the klutz unlucky caster to check in on stuff. She was always the unlucky one. Even on TOTALLY RNG EVENT TRIGGERS she would get chosen out of my team of 5 every. single. TIME. My Di was a paladin. but she got hers when the mage managed to find a nice gem embedded in a cave wall... DT took charge on the next wall where she caused a cave-in!
Dang near killed the entire party. But the mage took virtually no damage at all and Di lived by 20'ish something points lol!
*cough*
Okay, um, yeah. Good chapter. Needs +2 bedding though. Also, I always hated those trapped chests in D&D arcade game. So annoying when it turns out to be an instant death flame trap.
There needs to be a closing quotation mark at the end of this sentence.
Shouldn't this end with a question mark instead of a period?
That last quotation mark can be deleted.
6197774 I'm not convinced; she resorts to melee attacks because she has nothing else to fall back on, not because of any sort of preference for that particular mode of attack.
The adventures continue here, and in that regard the pair of fillies continue to stumble along, barely managing to hold their own. Once again, I found the action fairly straightforward and easy to follow, which made the actions scenes fairly engaging.
I'd say that the girls are starting to settle into a dynamic, but I have to wonder how much this is something new for them, and how much it's them adapting their previous dynamic to their current circumstances. That is, Diamond Tiara acts as the leader while Silver Spoon follows her/humors her (at least until her own patience runs out) has always been their methodology. That's still pretty much how things are going now, for the most part, as Silver Spoon seems to be developing more independence with regard to standing up to Diamond Tiara's worse impulses.
Diamond Tiara herself seems to be getting worse, as far as those impulses go, however. While she clearly cares about Silver Spoon, this caring honestly seems to be in conflict with Diamond's desire to affirm her own importance, to the point where she seems to be fine with her friend getting into harm's way on her behalf. For better or for worse, Everglow is a more violent world, and if Diamond Tiara becomes more comfortable with violence without changing her mindset, the results could be very grim.
This is particularly notable for how Diamond is starting to get the hang of physical combat. With no spellcasting in sight for her, and how she apparently has a deep well of rage over how her father (and, by extension, the entire world) have treated her, I'm honestly starting to wonder if she'll be a barbarian more than anything else. It's quite a play on the usual archetype, but I can't stop thinking of that given how Diamond is quick to lash out in anger whenever they meet a creature that opposes them (or at least, a creature that isn't part of the moral community, and so can be killed with impunity). Of course, she's insistent on having her own magic to boot, so maybe she'll multiclass? We'll have to see how that turns out.
Insofar as Silver Spoon goes...I'm beginning to wonder if her friendship with Diamond Tiara will survive their trip here. Right now they have to stay friends, simply because their survival still largely depends on it, but Silver Spoon is now in the service of two masters, and that's not a situation that can be sustained over the long run. Eventually, following the friendship goddess will let her realize that Diamond Tiara isn't being very much of a friend to her, and if Diamond can't be convinced to change her act, then I wonder if a more-confident Silver Spoon would leave her.
All of that's in the future, however. For right now they have to deal with unknown guests.
6202268
I believe the second 'the' should be 'box'.
6346567 Fixed!
6346587 pinki, getting into the randomest of trubble, and only +1 fire damage, it was the frotress of the sun god, surly their would be a pluse 50 fire damage,
7076153 Flaming is +1d6.
7076169 what does all of that mean?
7076230 In terms of this story? Nothing. It means something to the game it's based on.
7076254 could you tell me what it means their? still such a crappy king to give such week weapons
7076400 To put it in perspective, a normal short sword does 1d6, so a flaming short sword is literally twice as effective. It also makes a handy torch.