The Battle Parish [Private: PyroBlaze]

[Dunder]

Newly discovered ruins, check. New toys, check. Ruins shrouded in mystery, check. Everything was aligned for this to just be another easy and well paying job for Dunder. Against his better judgement, he decided to come alone. Daring Do could do it, so why couldn't he? After all, those rumors of explorers leaving and not coming back were never true. Those rumors were started to keep treasure hunters away. But an experienced explorer like Dunder doubted the real menace of the ruins.

And so the pegasus followed the instructions given to him by his trusted employer, which led him to the arid mountains of Hippostan. The instability of the region meant that exploring operations were rare. Along with that, the locals refused to acknowledge the presence of the ruins for reasons lost in generations.

Dunder trotted alone up the windy mountain road. He had to keep a hoof on his black wide brimmed hat to keep it from flying away, but he had no other qualms with the weather. The climate was hot and dry, just how the pegasus liked it. The warm weather made his stroll seem shorter than it was. for he found the cave that led to the entrance to the ruins. After cross checking the map and double checking the cross check, he decided to enter.

After entering the red-rocked cave, he brought his hoof down from his hat and took a deep breath.

Now where to begin?

The pegasus trotted into the cave deeper, but quickly the light began to fade. That's when he reached into his saddlebag to summon a small lantern. After lighting it, the darkness washed away to reveal a flat carved path with old runes carved into each brick. Of course, Dunder had no clue what each rune meant. So what better decision to make than just follow the path. Not like there was much else of a choice. He held the lantern with a wing while trotting down the path, his hooves echoing down the tunnel. It was a long way of pitch black tunnel left.

While Dunder trotted absentmindedly, he felt a brick get depressed after he stepped on it. Dunder's heart dropped when he heard a loud click. A large blade started to swing from the roof like a pendulum at Dunder and when Dunder's instinct to jump back took over, he found no ground behind him just another pit. He flared his wings to slow down but it was too late, the hole constricted and stopped Dunder from being able to catch air and fly.

After a few moments of struggling against the inevitable. The hole opened back up to a large open room, where Dunder crashed to the floor, knocking himself out instantly.

[PyroBlaze]

Why had he taken this job again? He was a thief, not a treasure hunter. Well, he supposed it wouldn't be that different from some of his other jobs. Depending on the security, some of those places felt like they were trapped like temples are. Xan sighed as he flew towards the temple, the building soon coming into view. Too late to back out now.

The black pegasus touched down outside the entrance, letting his cloak settle as he looked at the temple. At least he wouldn't have to worry about any others getting in the way. He sighed to himself as he headed into the temple. It was dark, but that was nothing new. There also appeared to be runes in the floor. Better to avoid them, probably. He lifted into the air with a flap of his wings, slowly flying down the hallway.

It was rather uneventful for a while, at least until he hit one of the tiles with a wing. It sank into the wall, and suddenly darts began flying from the walls. Xan's eyes widened before he dropped to the ground, getting as low as he could as he crawled underneath the barrage. He was paying more attention to the darts rather than what was in front of him, and he soon fell into a hole too narrow to use his wings.

He stuck his hooves out to slow his fall, eventually coming to a stop with his hooves pressed firmly against two of the walls. It seemed he had stopped just before the pit opened up into another passage. After a quick check of what he could see, he took his hooves from the wall, allowing himself to fall the rest of the way and land on his hooves, rolling to absorb the impact. He looked around again, spotting a familiar pegasus.

"You? What are you doing here?" He asked before he could stop himself, staring at the other stallion as his hoof went to the hilt of his sword.

[Dunder]

Dunder let out a groan as he tried to regain his consciousness. He opened his eyes, but everything was still pitch black. Dunder laid there for a moment, his heart and breath the only noises in the solid dark. The pony groaned as he dragged himself up back to his hooves. The armor clanked against itself, braking the silence even further. Almost too scared to make a noise, the pony began to gingerly search for his lantern. His hoof swiped against the brick floor until it bumped against something light and metallic. Dunder leaned forward and picked it back up with his wingtip, his heart rate starting to accelerate. The pony closed his eyes, trying to shut out the idea of himself being completel enveloped by the dark, instead he used his hooves and wings to feel for the lantern. The lantern didn't feel broken, was just extinguished. He respun the flint wheel and lit it.

As light flooded the room he could see he was in a much smaller one than he previously expected. Just a cubical chamber, monotonous in shape and color. All brown bricks. The stallion sighed and picked his hat up off the floor and pulled it back on his head. As he examined the room, one of the walls had an obvious door with two large rings attached to chains on either side of it.

Dunder approached the door, holding the lantern over his head by the wing. His hooves clacked against the ground. When he was in front of it, he got on his hindlegs and pushed as hard as his muscles would allow. Nothing, not even a budge.

"Hmmm....."

Just as he was beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle, Dunder heard the contraption open back up. He spun around and put his hoof on his sword as a cloaked pony landed on the ground in front of him.

"You? What are you doing here?" The stallion asked and Dunder recognized the voice, and of course the other stallion wasted no time getting to his sword. In response, Dunder pulled out his buckler and held it out in front of him.

"Stop! If you take a moment to look, you will realize our fates have been intertwined." Dunder said to the pony, locking eyes with him. "If we fight, no matter who wins would still be trapped down here and I don't want to take that risk. Now, relax, thief."

[PyroBlaze]

Xan paused as he took a brief look around the room. It seemed the only way out was some sort of door that the stallion had been inspecting. After that, his eyes returned to the stallion, letting out a small sigh.

"Fine, we work together for now." He said eventually, obviously not happy with this development. He took his hoof away from his sword, looking at the door. "Probably a pull door. Or there's a lever of some sort that opens it." Xan added as he looked at the door more closely. The chains probably meant they needed to pull it open. He flew over to one of the chains, grabbing it before he began pulling on it as hard as he could in his attempt to open it.

[Dunder]

Dunder was glad that this other pony was at least able to figure out how to solve the challenge set before them. He wasn't sure why this pony was so eager to get to work, he expected more of a trust issue. The brown stallion himself got to work. He grabbed the other ring and chain, as soon as he started the pull, the chains began to give way, but as the chains got pulled out of the wall the door didn't move. But still Dunder pulled the ring.

After some time pulling the chain stopped, Dunder let go. After Xan did the same, the door began to lift up as the chains started getting pulled back into the walls. Stone rubbed against stone as the heavy door's mechanism groaned awake and lifted itself from the ground. Dust that had built up from its under use fell to the floor.

The chamber it opened up to was illuminated by bushes of strange plants that gave off light, as well as a few cuts in the ceiling that gave way for light. The room in front of them was a large rectangular room.

Dunder turned off his lantern, as there was sufficient light to see. "So. What are you doing here? I hope you weren't following me to finish the job." Dunder said, as he began trotting down the steps to get to the next room.

[PyroBlaze]

Good, no further words. In truth, Xan didn't trust that stallion at all, but they had to work together for now. Anyways, he would be keeping a very close eye on him.

Xan released the chain after it became obvious it wasn't coming out any farther. Once both were like that, they began retreating into the wall as the door raised. Well, it hadn't quite been what he had expected, but at least it was open. The next area was well lit, causing the other stallion to douse the lantern flame. He trotted after the stallion as the question was voiced.

"You really think I would have followed you into a booby-trapped temple simply to get rid of you? No, I'm here for likely the same reason as you. There's an item in this temple that I am trying to get." Xan said simply as he walked along. Might as well be truthful there, especially since the stallion was likely there for the same thing. Hopefully not the same item, but they could deal with that when they got there.

[Dunder]

As they trotted down the stairs, Dunder kept an eye back on the theif, slowing down so that they'd both be standing next to eachother while listening to the pony. His ears perked when the black stallion said he was hunting for an item as well. That was a bridge to cross later. "Well you got stuck by the same trap I did. Stop acting like you know the situation." Dunder looked straight forward, "These ruins, I'm sure you know, are no normal ruins. Sophisticated contraptions to keep ponies out. But why?"

As they approached down further into the room, it was apparent that despite the illumination not everything was shown in the chamber. There was a large statue that only became outlined when being contrasted to the illuminated walls on the other end of the chamber. The statue rested in the middle of the chamber, almost completely protected from the light.

"Hmmm..." Dunder for a moment almost forgot who he was with as curiosity overtook him. He trotted closer to the statue, wanting to see the craftsmanship of such a massive piece. As they got closer, Dunder reignited the lantern and raised it to examine the statue as much as he could. There sat a gargantuan representation of a pony, if she were flesh and blood she'd easily be considered an actual giant. Her eyes seemed to be closed, and she was wearing nothing other than her stone robes which concealed a cutie mark. Under her hooves was a sword, strangely enough the sword seemed to be made out of actual steel.

Finely crafted... Almost too finely crafted for just a statue. Old tribes didn't have much good sword metal to waste it on decoration. And the sword was too big  for any pony.

"Hey, what do you-- AH! BEHIND YOU!" Dunder instinctively drew his rapier and got on his hindlegs.

If Xan trusted Dunder, he'd turn around to see a dirt colored shape of a pony, except its head and forehooves were encased in the same brick that made the room.

If Xan didn't turn around, he'd most likely get bricked in the back.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan gave a little snort at the stallion's words as they came to be side-by-side. Since when was he acting he knew the situation? He was remaining calm and collected so he could better figure out how to get out of here. It was better than freaking out. He didn't speak though, not until the other stallion had finished.

"Why else? They likely wanted whatever is in this temple to remain here." Xan said simply, continuing on down the steps. As they got closer, it became obvious that not everything in the room was illuminated by the light provided. It seemed there was a large statue of a pony in the center, which the other stallion illuminated with his lantern.

The statue was standing on an actual sword, and a large one at that, but why? Why would they forge an actual sword simply to trap under a statue? He didn't get much time to contemplate before the stallion's shout cut through his thoughts. Xan spun around, seeing the pony shaped thing, and instinct took over. He jumped backwards into the air as he flapped his wings and launched a couple daggers at the thing. Of course, the daggers didn't do much, chipping the rocky hide before falling to the ground.

"What is that?" He asked, giving a quick glance down to the stallion before returning his gaze to the stone figure that hadn't been there before.

[Dunder]

Dunder took off into the air as Xan himself retreated and unleashed a few daggers that were deflected by the hide of the creature. "Whatever it is, it's not of this world." He said and dive-kicked the thing onto its back. It was slow in movement, but it was definately strong and heavy. Dunder could feel the force needed to knock the thing over. As the thing was on its back on the ground, Dunder landed again on his hindlegs, leaned back, rapier in his hooves before plunging it into the thing's chest.

The rapier peiced inside and the creature let out a small groan before spontaneously crumbling like a loosely held-together dirtball.

Dunder wasted no time turning back around, pointing his rapier at Xan, anticipating an attack from the other pony. The stallion didn't know how trusting the other was going to be.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan watched the rock pony as the stallion spoke, saying it was not of this world. He wasn't sure about that, but it was definitely not natural. Most likely, there was some magic in play in the creation of this thing. Before he could formulate a plan of attack, however, the other stallion had already dived in, flipping the thing onto it's back before stabbing it and making it crumble. He gazed at the pile of dirt and rock before moving his gaze to the stallion that was currently pointing his rapier at him.

 

"What? I'm not stupid, we likely need each other to get out of here, and I'm not one to get rid of something that is still useful." Xan said simply, giving the stallion an even gaze as he landed again, his weapons remaining undrawn. After a second, he walked forward, retrieving the two knives he had thrown and storing them back where they belonged.

[Dunder]

Dunder didn't move as Xan drifted past the rapier point. The other pony didn't even touch his weapons. Maybe this pony was worth more trust than Dunder expected. But still no reason to let his guard down. Dunder just slid the rapier back into its scabbard and got on all fours. "Whatever that thing was, it was much tougher to take down than anything pony. I fear a group of them could be much too much to handle if we can't retreat."

"Let's just get out of here. See if we can get that door at the other end of the room open." He said as he got air again, "And by the way, you will need to show me how to use those throwing knives."

[PyroBlaze]

Xan nodded as he took to the air again. They really should get out of here before more of those things showed up. He really didn't want to get caught battling a crowd of those things. He looked over at the other pony briefly as he asked to see how the throwing knives worked. 

 

"Perhaps. Now's not really the time though." He said as he approached the door to get a better look at it and try to figure out how to open it up. He wasn't sure why this stallion wanted to know how to use throwing knives, especially since he didn't seem to carry any, but that was an issue for another time.

[Dunder]

"Well, not now obviously. We need to get this door open." Dunder said as they both landed in front of the door. There was no chain to pull this time. There had to be some way to open the door. The stallion ran a hoof over the dusty, rocky door. "Maybe a pickaxe is lying around somewhere...? No." He began looking around again, until something crumbling caught his attention again. He instantly spun around, but there was nothing there. But still the crumbling continued. This time it was complimented by some cracking, and the sounds of leather stretching back to life.

It was hard to make out, but shrouded in the dark there was something moving. Dunder's wings instinctively flared up, to make himself seem more menacing. There was danger lurking about now, and the air was thick with it.

A hulking silhouette could be seen, each motion sounding off another crack or stretch.

It was the statue in the middle of the chamber, rising from its docile state. Its massive legs propped itself up, and it looked at the two ponies that were standing at the door. After a moment it reached its head down and grabbed the sword that lay resting there by the hilt. A primative way of holding it, but Dunder felt the thing needn't not be careful. The thing was massive, two full grown stallions tall and then some. With the proportions to boot.

Before the ponies could properly react it jumped at the two, striking at the two, but aiming between them.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan grunted at the stallion's response, looking over the door in front of them. There was no obvious thing to pull or push to get the door open, perhaps they had to push the door itself open. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked over the area. The sound of something crumbling caught his attention, causing him to spin around to face the source of the noise. There was nothing in sight though, making him even more on edge as the sound continued. 

 

Eventually, it became obvious where the sound was coming from as he saw the statue in the middle of the room begin moving. He stood at the ready as the statue picked up it's sword and looked at the two pegusi. He tensed as the statue lunged, his eyes darting around as he tracked the blade, stepping cleanly out of the way of the strike. This was going to be difficult to take care of. He drew his sword and stood on his hind legs, getting ready for the next attack that he assumed would be coming.

[Dunder]

 Dunder wasted no time to jump out of the way of the strike. The Strike seemed like it wasn't aiming for him anyway, so Dunder easily evaded it. But now the pegasus couldn't see his 'partner.' So Dunder just took off into the air and drew his own sword as the now alive statue recovered from the blow. Dunder would have gone in for a strike, but the hulking figure turned to look at the pegasus, exposing his back to Xan.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan's eyes were darting around to many different places, making sure no other surprises were awaiting him while also keeping an eye on the large statue in front of him. He caught sight of the other stallion taking off into the air, drawing the statue's attention towards him and freeing Xan up to strike.

The dark colored pegasus took to the air, heading up to the statue's neck before striking, stabbing his blade into a crack between the rocky surfaces, driving it in as far as it would go before pulling it back as quickly as he could do he could get out of there to avoid counter-attacks. He doubted that would take care of the statue, but it hopefully did something productive.

[Dunder]

The statue turned back around to face Xan. Each step it took, more cracks shot through the statue's frame, and dusty chunks of rock fell and shattered on the floor. It looked mad now, but faced back to Dunder. When Dunder got on guard, ready to dodge again, it leaped backwards at Xan with speed and dexterity that belied its sheer size and mass. With nimble precision, it aimed a rocky tail smack at the black pegasus.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan's eyes darted around the statue, taking note of the rocks falling off of it as it moved. He gave a hum to himself as it turned away from him, and he dropped his guard a bit, about to head in to attack again when he noticed the tail coming right for him. 

 

Acting purely on reflex, he flipped upside down and flapped his wings, pushing him out of the way of the tail with the help of gravity. Once the danger passed, he flipped over again, just in time to impact the ground with a grunt. Now his legs hurt a lot, but he could still fly fine. It would be walking that would be a problem. He took off into the air with a grimace, being more careful about avoiding the attacks.

[Dunder]

Dunder flapped his wing to avoid the horizontal strike of the pony's sword. Dunder held out his wings and let out a strong flap to push himself towards the exposed, cracking neck. The stallion did his best to hold on as he pushed the rapier deep into the nape of the neck. The statue instantly cranked his head back as Dunder slid the rapier out of the crack, more stone falling off the body.

The gargantuan was starting to writhe in panic more and this pushed Dunder to higher air. He flew as far as he could go, almost at the ceiling as he scanned the ground for Xan. "Hey! Xan! Aim for the cracks in his armor!"

[PyroBlaze]

(Did they ever actually exchange names? I don't remember that happening...)

"What do you think I've been doing? Trying to cut a rock?" The dark-coated stallion snapped as he dove in again for a repeat performance of his last attack. After pulling his sword out, he quickly backed up, avoiding another attack from the statue. At least they seemed to be progressing on this, if the rocks falling off and the creature's attitude were any indications.