Post by Bardigan on Jan 8, 2013 22:10:22 GMT -5
Bardigan, Twilight Sparkle, Diamond Dancer, Spike, and Clara begin an adventure to retrieve a mystical gem known as firestone. Their chosen course: visit a Diamond Dog cave system, which is rumored to have uncovered a vein of just such a mineral. Having reached the caves, they discover the situation is far more complicated than they first believed. A griffon nicknamed Featherfang has successfully stirred up one Diamond Dog tribe against another and armed them with magical weapons, and the adventurers are caught in the crossfire as the conflict comes to a head.
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Diamond_Dancer is panicking at the complete and utter chaos she stumbles onto. Skidding to a halt when she sees the clans engaged in war, her mouth drops open and the little pony finds herself at a total loss as what to do. She hasn't had any REAL training. She doesn't know how to quash an upraising or to defend an entire clan from another clan. She doesn't know what to DO. But it doesn't stop her from trying. She zips forward, her hooves chewing up the distance between her and the first set of diamond dogs she spies fighting. "Stop! STOP! You don't have to do this! You don't hafta fight!! "She calls, but she already knows it's useless. Of the two fighting, Iron Eyes and Topaz, one already, obviously has the upper paw. A dog standing atop the other, holding a pick-axe and ready to deliver a killing blow. He is, however, stunned and confused when he brings that axe down, not to find the satisfying 'thud' of the blade digging into the other dog's skull, but finding it cracking into shards on the hide of Diamond's shoulder.
" STOP IT!" She snarls- and thats that. She's already gone, racing towards another set of Dogs, fighting violently. She wedges herself inbetween them, kicking and bucking to knock them away from each other, but it isn't enough. There are far to many skirmishes going on, and only one little pony. "N, No! Stop! Please!! You don't hafta- N, NO!! DON'" She shudders, watching these terrible things unfurl, and thats when it hits her. She CAN get around faster than this. The same trick she used down in Tartarus! -Not one that she's practiced too much but the effects should still be the same! It takes her a moment, standing where she is in the middle of all this chaos to find her targets, but she does. It's like drawing a star in the sky- only it's horizontal, and each point is a life or death battle between diamond dogs. Suddenly she's off like a shot- pony pinball anyone? Ding, ding, ding, ding ding, bing, ding, ping POW! She ricochets from one fighting group to another, leaving a bright shining streak of light in her wake and bluntly crashing into anyone she can to stop them from killing each other. Upon her fourth ricochet, she comes across a diamond dog wielding a sledgehammer, and bringing it down atop another dog's head. He, instead, twists about, and brings it down into Diamond's head instead in a most unprecedented display of timing and dexterity. Or maybe it's just timing. Or maybe he's just lucky. Or maybe Diamond's just getting tired. The result is all the same though- it stops Diamond in her tracks with a sickening crunch and leaves the pony on the ground amidst all this chaos.
Clara is not too far behind the Dancer when her first intercessionary event occurs. Clara's jaws squeeze tight as she flinches. But Diamond is okay so far. " We aRe toO laaAte!" she calls futilely, racing toward her friend and 'ward'. Diamond's abilities come into full play now, or close to it. Clara stops and stands in awe. She knows that something like this happened in Tartarus, but she didn't witness it directly, having been preoccupied at the time. She ducks and barely avoids getting bodyslammed herself. "STOOoOP!!" she yells, though it's not clear whether to Diamond or the warriors. "TheRe are Still nEgoTiAaAtiOns to Be H--" Then it ^does^ stop, and Clara winces threefold, wishing she hadn't ever wished it so. She hurries to Diamond, keeping one eye on the hostile fighter. "YoU musT spAare her," she pleads tangentially while taking a look at how bad the damage is.
There's fighting in nearly every tunnel that Bardigan passes. This is how Diamond Dogs fight: in three dimensions. He can't keep track of what tunnels go where; he only knows to try and find Diamond in the middle of this mess. He just knows he's behind Clara, and he quickly loses her in the chaos. "Diamond!" he calls out ineffectually, hearing several loud, unnatural noises in the tunnels apart from the barks and whimpers of Dogs: loud, rolling *booms* that are like small explosions. "Twilight!" he calls over his shoulder, hoping against hope the unicorn is still with him. "Can you find a way to track those stones? I know Clara took one! If we find her, we might find Diamond!"
( The Dog standing over Diamond spits at the ground at Clara's feet. It's an Iron Eyes. "Ponies aRe weAk," he says, picking up the weapon Steno provided their forces. "With *thEeesE, IrOn EyEs wilL be StRoonnG." He turns to a Topaz that just breached the cavern floor, pointing the iron cylinder at him, and makes an odd movement with his wrist. There's a loud, shimmering *fwoosh*, and yellow-green fire lances out and strikes the Topaz in the chest, burning a grisly hole straight through. The Iron Eyes growls with satisfaction. "StRooNG!" he crows, heading off to rejoin his fellows. )
Twilight_Sparkle's hooves pound against the cave floor as she races about, with Spike clinging to her for dear life as chaos erupts all around.. "Diamond Dancer! Diamond Dancer!" she calls out, frantically. At Bardigan's suggestion, she calls back "I'll try! She's over...this way! Follow me!" She races toward the menacing sounds, hoping that it's just a trick of cave echoes that her ears are telling her she's headed straight into danger. She arrives just in time to seethe Iron eyes and his little trick, and gasp at it...but she gasps more when she sees what's become of Diamond Dancer. "Oh Celestia, please don't let her be seriously hurt!" she begs, to no one in the room, as she hurries to the small fallen pony's side.
Diamond_Dancer is already climbing to her hooves. She's pissed off, and the dog cowers before her might, obviously unaware who he was messing with, but clearly realizing he is WAY out of his league. At least, thats what Diamond sees in her head. No, no, in reality, she's TRYING to climbs, but not quite succeeding in this venture. Catching a sledge hammer to the face while flying as fast as she can in the conditons of the tunnel is not precident to a speedy recovery in most situations to most normal ponies. Diamond is hardly normal. She manages to get to her hooves for a moment, stumbles to her left, and then collapses on the groudn again, hooves twisted underneath her. "You'se...Y, you'se jush...jush you'se wait..."She sputters, watching in horror at the weapon being fired and the result it has, and the fact that theres nothing she can do about it. But already her headache is fading away, and the little one is climbing to her hooves. "I...I am unbreakable. I'm not weak. I'm NOT!! "She snarls, as if the dog's insult was direct and personal. She shoots forward again -her 'Dazzling Diamond Dash' or 'Meteor Missle' or whatever she's named her manuver this week, to crash into the dog- head first like a little black and white wrecking ball. She can't do any of her more spectacular moves with so little space and no room to fly. But she doesn't feel pain, and with that being the case- she stretches to put it to use where she can here.
"She can't be," Bardigan whispers, moving unsteadily as though he has to physically force himself closer to Diamond. His knees are knocking together, and he can't lift a hoof without it shaking violently. "She can't be hurt badly. She's, she's invincible," he gasps, his breath coming in short bursts. When she stands again, he reaches out, almost crying out in relief... and then she goes shooting off again. "DIAMOND DANCER YOU COME BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, looking to Twilight with a pleading expression. "Your magic! Make her stop!" he all but begs the unicorn. This isn't something any of them should be a part of. The Dog Diamond crashes into crumples like paper, wheezing for breath, but that doesn't stop the sounds of combat coming from other chambers... alongside Featherfang's barking, commanding voice.
Clara isn't, for her part, sure that Diamond is the one who should stop what she's doing. She stands there, arms somewhat akimbo, panting, and steps to one side to avoid impact. This situation has the better of Clara, having escalated faster than she expected. She hears Bardigan calling and calls back: "ThIs wAAy!!" To the Iron Eyes warrior that Diamond imagined cowing but didn't, Clara frowns and shakes her head. "They wIll make you strRong either uNtil he betRaaYs you, or until anotHer, stRonger Weaopn is NeeEded, and FooUnd. Then theY will be Nothing but oRdinaNce, and at gReAt PrIice."
Spike looks around nervously. He's clinging closely to Twilight's back, shivering a little. "Um, Twilight? Should we maybe...be getting out of here?" The unicorn is, herself, frantically assessing the situation. "It's getting hard to see what useful purpose our being here serves...but we can't leave without Diamond Dancer. And I can't teleport her out, or even back here, if I can't get a lock on her." She races after the small pony again. "Diamond Dancer! We really ought to get to safety! Not everypony here is invincible and somepony is going to get seriously hurt!"
Diamond_Dancer tackles that diamond dog to the ground, and stamps and stomps and CRUSHES the weapon dropped to the ground. Livid and furious, she gives a snarl, and starts running again, only to freeze at Twilight's words. /Not everypony here is invincible/ And now she's dreadfully torn. "N, no...I can't, I...T, they're fighting, I've gotta stop dem. I can't...I..."She stammers, quite unsure what to do- or how to stop them, or how to protect everyone. Thats what a 'guard' does, right? They protect?
"Diamond Desiree Dancer, you listen to your brother!" Bardigan shouts as loud as he dares. He finds himself lagging behind once again, cursing his overweighted bags and his figure, which while quite svelte is hardly made for this kind of duress. He comes up last, panting heavily from fatigue and adrenaline, only barely able to see the others ahead through the dim tunnels. "Diamond! We're getting out of here *now,* we're leaving. We're going ho-" *Crunch... CRACK* goes the rock above his head as three Topaz Dogs appear from the ceiling and drop right on top of the playwright. They look around in a fright, and one of them notices Bardigan beneath them.
"PooOnY!" "Pony?!" another shouts. "TaaAkE hiM! QuiCklY!"
And in seconds, the bard is hefted up on strong shoulders and borne down into the ground, too dazed to even lift a hoof in protest.
Clara now hears Twilight calling for help. Her great ears twitch and flop and twitch again. She stands with her pickaxe in defensive posture, fighting off those warriors not caught in Diamond Dancer's barrage, until the ambush comes. She hears the cracking of the rock and anticipates trouble. By the time they reach Bardigan, she's nearly there. She gives chase until they descend, and then, shaking, looks for the unicorn, the dragonling, and her ward. "The bAarRd has bEen aCcOsSted and SeeizeD!" she shouts, hoping to draw them near, and quickly.
Twilight_Sparkle spins around, at Clara's words! "NO!" She gallops over, bringing poor Spike along. By the time unicorn and dragon arrive, the hole is filled with dirt again. She looks over her shoulder at Spike, Dragon and unicorn exchange nods, and in moments, Spike is tail-jackhammering a new hole in the same spot. "Hang on, Bardigan, I'm going to get you out of there!" Twilight calls, frantically.
( Firefly said to be calm in situations like this. Reserved and thoughtful, which is, probably the very oppisite end of Diamond's reaction spectrum. If she were calm, it lasts for only a few moments, and she begins pracing in place, quite unsure how to deal with this new devlopment. Great, now she's seperated from her brother. She knew better than to drag him along! If he gets hurt she'll never ever forgive herself! She can't build enough momentum in the cramped tunnels to use a high speed strike, and even if she could, she doubts she could burrow through rock like that. "C, Clara, can you'se dig him out?! O, or maybe..."She trails off, looking back at the smashed weapony. RATS! "W, where will dey take him?! What will dey DO wif him!? )
"They will do what any desperate force will do when cornered," Steno announces, striding down the hall towards them with several Iron Eyes in tow. "They will use him as a bargaining chip." He lifts up the bracelet on his left left, which glows with an eerie light that pulsates. "I used the Seeking Stones to stay close to you all, and felt when the playwright was taken... I knew this attack had to be some kind of diversion. The Topaz are already withdrawing." "FeaThErFaaNG!" another Iron Eyes barks as he comes racing down the tunnel. "ExpLoSIoonN at thE CaMp! MAaaNy supPlIes rAided!" The griffon nods, taking the bad news in stride. "As I suspected. Fortunately... your friend being taken may now be turned to our advantage."
Clara's reactions are mixed and complex. At first she nods, falling to all fours and egging Twilight and Spike on in their unusual method of pursuit. She even takes a good, hard swing at the dirt with her pick, sending a measure of it flying. "DiiIAmoNd. We mUSt foLlow, I taAke it? The bArd is not eXpennDibLe?" She throws a clod of earth out, half-standing in the pit. "We can attemPt to clEar a shAaaft wherein yoU can use your AbiiillitIies," she decides. But before they can attempt that strategem, the griffon warlord reappears and Clara leaps from the hold, lip twitching. "You are Uusing uS," she accuses. "AnD what is a plAaywrIght?" She looks between the others to gauge their reactions. "Did you plAan for thiS to oCcur?"
Twilight_Sparkle leaves Spike to his digging, for a moment, and steps next to Clara. "I'd like to know the answer to that too," she says, narrowing her eyes. "If anything happens to anypony in this group..." She looks at Clara, and at Spike. "Any BEING in this group, I guarantee the wrath of Celestia AND Luna is going to come down on all of you. I'll personally see to it." Her eyes and horn flash red.
Diamond_Dancer's shoulders just slump. She knew, she knew, she KNEW he was about to turn up. This was all just to convienent. "...What do we do, to get him back. He is not expendable. He ain't heaven...he's my bruddah. "She explains quietly. You'se playin puppet masta from da git go, but fine. I'll bite. Dey wanna bargin, we bargin. How do we git him back?" She asks quietly. "...Anyding happens to him...anyding at all, and dare ain't no corner of da world dat you'll be able to hide from me. "She says softly. "I mean, if dares anyding left after da unicorn gets done wif you'se, dat is.
"No, I did not plan for this," the griffon answers quickly, raising his head to get a little further away from Twilight's threat, and to increase his presence. His wings shiver noticeably when Twilight's magic flares up, but he keeps his composure otherwise. "I am not the one you should be making threats towards. And nothing *will* happen if we act quickly. The Topaz are growing desperate to engage our forces so directly. What good fortune that your friend just so happens to have his Seeking Stone with him, hmm?" he says, eyes narrowing just slightly. "They will take him to their base camp, which I have been unable to locate... until now. We will follow. Once we are there, a show of force in their own home will force them to acquiesce to *any* demands we may make." He picks up one of the magical cannons, looking over it critically. "You are free to dislike me. But we *are* still working to the same ends."
Clara's mind appears to be running quickly. But how well can she really function in these quickly shifting conditions? She looks at the magical cannon, sets her jaw, and holds out a bulky hand, rising to her legs. She seems to expect Featherfang to give it to her. "We wiLl go toGether, but we wIll all be AaRmed," she says.
Twilight_Sparkle frowns, and narrows her eyes, but she nods at the gryphon. "We'll work together, but right now all I want is to get my friends to safety. We'll be at cross purposes in a hurry if you compromise any of them."
Diamond_Dancer sighs deeply, and just hangs her head. "OK, whatever, alright. Les jus GO! If we wait, he might be hoyt. We follow, we used da stone, dings, we end dis conflict, we go home. ...I can't leave with so many creatures fightin...I just can't. "She says quietly.
Twilight_Sparkle touches her hoof to Dancer's shoulder. "Now you know how the princesses feel every day," she says, softly.
( "*I*?" Steno says, placing a claw on his chest. "Twilight Sparkle, it is the Topaz who are your enemy. They compromised the safety of your friends. Focus on them, for it is *their* decision now whether your... playwright... gets out of this in one piece." He glances at Clara and considers her for a little while, his keen predator's gaze unwavering. "... Very well," he says, and hands the weapon to her. "Push forward on the shaft with your thumb here. That will spark the magical catalyst and unleash the energy. You have enough power for two shots. Do be careful where you point it." )
He turns to the other Dogs next, pointing at the place where Bardign used to be. "Dig," he commands, and they fan out, following both the same trail that the Topaz took, and making several diversionary tunnels, guided all the while by Steno, who holds aloft his magical artifacts, gauging the distance and direction. "They move fast," he reports. "But not far. We will be upon them before they can prepare for us."
Clara meets the griffon's eyes, presenting the image of a creature incapable of the 'betrayal' she's twice now condemned, and a tough one to boot. She takes the weapon without any sign of surprise. "Two shots," she repeats, and moves her thumb in the air above where it must be pushed, as practice. "YoU are a briLliaNt one." Clara sheaths her pickaxe in the sleeve in back of her vest and starts digging along with the others, using her claws alone. She keeps her senses sharp. "SuRely yOu know whaT atTacks the Topaz Clan has witHstOod in the paSst," she half-hisses to Steno. "They aRe welL-prePared and diSssciplIned, if stOries are to be BelievveD. They must exPecT this Attack, bUt for the SeEkINg StOones... and that... is a lOt to stake our FaAtes upon." Yet Clara digs, even if the situation has her ^very^ uncomfortable.
Twilight_Sparkle looks to Spike, and is about to tell him to get out of the dogs' way, but he's just having so much fun digging that she lets him join in.
Diamond_Dancer steps back, watching the weapons being trained and turns towards the griffon. "...What do those weapons do? Is it just a blast of like, really powahful magic or somedin?" She asks thoughtfully, flexing her wings...
( Steno has no answer for Clara save a sharp, humorless glance. It seems he agrees with her... he just doesn't particularly care for the details. Diamond's question forces a sigh from him. "Magical energy concentrated into a short lived beam," he explains, "with a small shard of gem carried along with the blast to focus that energy. It is a projectile weapon in the strictest sense, but while simple rocks and metal can be stopped by magical enchantments... the naturally volatile nature of these weapons ensures only the most powerful wizards can defend against them on short notice." They dig, in tense ominous silence now, for the better part of an hour, making good progress as the Iron Eyes lead the way. "We are close," he murmurs. His bracelet is glowing almost white hot, and Twilight is privy to the same sensation: a burning, vibrating *presence.* "We are close to the Firestone," Steno whispers. "Strange they would risk it by leading us there." )
Clara, in turn, doesn't attend much to the magical description of the weapon that must fascinate Twilight. She needs only to know their relative strength and that they are superior to any defenses known to Diamond Dogs. She restrains herself from talking with her companions for most of the dig, deterred by the griffon's presence. Once, though, she whispers to Twilight: "The spEll for escape. WiLl it be ready?"
Twilight_Sparkle's whole body is tense. She feels it, to her core. She also seems to be taking notes, mentally, though mercifully she doesn't make the still-digging Spike physically jot them down for her. She nods to Clara, and whispers back, "Get us all into a 40-hoof radius and I *can* get us out." She looks around, as if sensing something unexpected. A presence she's not felt since...well. Star Wars reference aside, she's aware of the firestone.
Diamond_Dancer takes a deep breath. She's also taking it in. All of it. Bardigan, the firestone, Steno. And the description of the weapons and the function. Highly concentrated beam of magical energy. CAN she take one of those and keep going? A sledgehammer to the skull, sure? Slamming into the earth at a bajillion miles per hour is no problem...but magic...well thats different all together. It's making her...nervous, but if it means she can keep Bardigan safe, it doesn't matter if she's invincible or not...
The strange feeling is keenly felt by anypony familiar with magic... namely, Twilight. It's like a warm body more than a magical gem, a pulsing vein with its own directions and concerns in the world different from the ones seeking to mine it. This is something that channels pure magic; something that carries a portion of the world's lifeblood. After another hour, the lead digging Dog holds up a paw to halt the advance, snatching Spike's tail to stop his jackhammering. Steno nods quietly, and points forward with his talon. "Do not shoot unless they attack us first," he murmurs. The lead Dog raises a pickaxe, waiting one more moment... and then brings the point down, collapsing the wall ahead of them. The Iron Eyes charge into the breach, howling to announce their presence. And behind a few Dog-shaped silhouettes further into the cavern, and one winged pony, there glimmers a long vein of orange. The Firestone is there, in reach, suffusing the entire open cavern with pure magical energy. "TOPAZ!" Steno roars, magically amplifying his voice. "LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR TREATIES, NOT BLOOD!" And, surprisingly, no spears come flying at them. Instead, Bardigan steps forward, with a cloaked Diamond Dog at his side.
Clara feels the firestone too, though. Not because of its magic, but because of its heat. The particular way it radiates through the rock. She's been exposed to stories about these things for a long time, after all, and other stones have similar properties. When the lead digger grabs Spike's tail, she cradles her firestick under one arm and takes his shoulder with the other, aiming to calmly secure the dragon's release. "We musSt alL be prEpaAred for wHat is abOut to trnSpiIiRe." She stands aside from the final blow through the wall. Even though Clara was expecting firestones to be near, she's amazed and temporarily stunned at the purity and vast quantity of it. It's several seconds before she remembers to ready her weapon.
( A strange feeling is keenly felt by anypony familiar with magic: namely, Twilight. The firestone is more like a warm body more than a magical gem, a pulsing vein with its own directions and concerns in the world different from the ones seeking to mine it. This is something that channels pure magic; something that carries a portion of the world's lifeblood, and gets stronger as they get closer. After another hour, the lead digging Dog holds up a paw to halt the advance, snatching Spike's tail to stop his jackhammering. Steno nods quietly, and points forward with his talon. "Do not shoot unless they attack us first," he murmurs. The lead Dog raises a pickaxe, waiting one more moment... and then brings the point down, collapsing the wall ahead of them. The Iron Eyes charge into the breach, howling to announce their presence. And behind a few Dog-shaped silhouettes further into the cavern, and one winged pony, there glimmers a long vein of orange. The Firestone is there, in reach, suffusing the entire open cavern with pure magical energy. "TOPAZ!" Steno roars, magically amplifying his voice. "LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR TREATIES, NOT BLOOD!" And, surprisingly, no spears come flying at them. In front of the firestone vein is clumped a loose mob of Topaz Dogs, spears at the ready. Bardigan is in the midst of them, next to a hunchbacked Dog hooded and cloaked.
( Clara feels the firestone too, though. Not because of its magic, but because of its heat. The particular way it radiates through the rock. She's been exposed to stories about these things for a long time, after all, and other stones have similar properties. When the lead digger grabs Spike's tail, she cradles her firestick under one arm and takes his shoulder with the other, aiming to calmly secure the dragon's release. "We musSt alL be prEpaAred for wHat is abOut to trnSpiIiRe." She stands aside from the final blow through the wall. Even though Clara was expecting firestones to be near, she's amazed and temporarily stunned at the purity and vast quantity of it. It's several seconds before she remembers to ready her weapon. )
Diamond_Dancer's eyes widen immediately when she spots her sibling. The hyper little pegasus instantly overjoyed at seeing him unharmed, she races forward, blindly, regardless of the numberous weapons surrounding her, and the situation. Everything is secondary to Bardigan's safety- even her own star. "BARDIGAN!" She calls out!
Twilight_Sparkle readies herself as well! She has a teleportation spell on the tip of her horn; the only reason she doesn't immediately zap Bardigan to safety is, it's not immediately clear where safety is. Nevertheless, her horn and eyes aglow, she looks quite a bit more threatening than she really is, to anypony not aware of her intent. It could be a death ray! It isn't, but it COULD be.
Spike is somewhat entranced by the stone, his eyes glowing with the reflection. He's not a magic user in the way Twilight is, but he can still sense the powerful magic field of the firestone as it interacts with his own natural magic. He whispers to Twilight, "Is it even safe to harvest that? I mean, it seems powerful, and important, where it is."
Twilight_Sparkle nods, slowly. "I was thinking the same thing! It feels...wrong, to even think of interfering with it. Like cutting into a vein." She and Celestia are going to have a lot to talk about.
"Wait, *wait!*" Bardigan shouts, pushing to the front of the crowd and opening his hooves to catch Diamond. He's covered in dirt, but no worse for wear, but all the Topaz Dogs look tense and frightened, eyes on Featherfang as he steps forward. "Enough lives have been lost," he says in a cold, rolling voice, the type of voice a predator that knows he's won the chase might use. "Give up the firestone." "NooOOt to YouUu," the hunchbacked Dog says, pointing his staff at the griffon, which quickly swings towards Twilight and Spike. "PooOonies. YoUr frieeEnd is UnHaarrMed. NooOne of Usss wish for HaaRrmmm. But you CaANnnot haVee the StooOone so long as the GrifFon stAnds with you."
Clara is aware that Twilight is planning a teleportation spell, and even she is made apprehensive by the pony's appearance and demeanor. She steps away from Twilight, keeping an eye on her. But she nods to the dragon and his master. "It is ^noT^ safe to haaRvest, bUt sometiMes it is woorRth it anNywaAy," she contributes. "Its GuarrdIans are DoOgs of DiscipLine." She watches Diamond rush into the fray and moves to follow at a distance, her expression heated and ready. She finds herself addressed the cowled figure, whom she assumes is a leader, if not ^the^ Leader, or the Teacher, as lore has it. "Do you HavVe truUCk with tHis grifFon maAge?" She moves to keep her distance from Featherfang, though he must hear her. "Is iT not the Loss of the tReaSUre, but the Prospect of hiS gaAin, to WhicH you oBjeect?"
addressed=addressing
Diamond_Dancer falls into Bardigan's grasp, hugging him tightly, and cherishing the moment. Thanking her lucky star that he's not hurt, she turns, slowly, towards the rest of the canines, and rubs a hoof through her mane. The dirty, tired little filly eager and ready to go blow for blow and pound for pound with each of these dogs if she has to. But that doesn't seem to be the case. "So...let me git dis straight. Basicially...you give us da firestone, da griffion (Gryphon) don't get it, da war stops, cause dare ain't nuffin ta fight over no more, and feddahfang can go and find another hole wif anudda firestone in it, dat WON'T start a war between dogs? Dis, seems like a good idea!"
Spike is skipping his turn.
Twilight_Sparkle steps forward, toward the firestone. Her horn glows, and even sparks a little, like an overloaded electrical plug. She stares at it, entranced for a few moments by its sheer power.
"TheREee is NoOo gAiin for annNyone," the Topaz speaker intones. "The GrifFon is hEere to bRing loss to AlLl." "The only loss here is to be had with listening to you," Featherfang shoots back. "I am here for a small part of a stone you are dying to protect." "From you!" the Dog snaps. "I knOow what it is YouuU BriiinG. I knooW whyYy you are HeerRe." The Dog reaches into his cloak, and pulls out a strange little amulet, and Featherfang's eyes widen. "Iii have SeeEennN youR CiTyyy," the Dog growls. "And it is WaannTinggg. You seek to DesTroYyy the stone when you Seiiize your PorTiion. This wilLll nOt be AllooweD." There's a beat of silence. And then Featherfang raises a claw, and his bracelet glows. There is a terrible, ghastly noise that echoes to the very bones, knocking anyone nearby and in the path of his talons to the ground, and in the midst of the echo comes Featherfang's command. "They refuse to give up the stone! Destroy them!" Chaos breaks loose as the Iron Eyes attack, and Featherfang shrieks as
he charges the Topaz, going directly for the firestone.
Clara wants a part of this conversation. She wants to be able to think of it as a negotiation, but can't in good conscience--not how it's going. She opens her mouth, starting to interject the need for more discussion, but the two shrill speakers dominate the proceedings too much for a word to slip in cornerwise. Now Clara is glad she stood well away from the griffon. She retains her footing in the wake of the sound and blast. "NOoO!" she shouts, managing a pretty good bellow for a bitch. "IroOn eEYes! HaVe you hEarRd nOOthinG the ToPaz TEacHer has saIdd??" She dodges a charge and then whirls about, not attacking the Topaz but attempting to make a strategic stand about a group of Iron Eyes, her pickaxe at the ready in one hand and her firestick in the other. They should know what these things can do. Hopefully Clara doesn't get bowled over when she shouts, "DoeS lOoSS for AlLl souNd liKe a GooOoD iDDeA?!"
Diamond_Dancer's ears perk in alarm, and the little white and ebony pony raises up, pumping her wings as hard as possible. There isn't any wind to be had underground, so flying is very difficult for a pegasus, but she manages. "NO MORE FIGHTING! NO MORE FIGHTING!" She shrieks as loud as she possibly can, glancing around frantically. Back to the drawing board. "Dis ain't worth it! Look, WE'LL take da firestone! WE TAKE IT! Noone else gits hoyt!"
Spike hides behind Twilight, while trying not to *look* like he's hiding behind Twilight. He's waiting, trying to see how the situation will pan out -- while simultaneously ready to help her if the need arises.
Twilight_Sparkle is still staring into the firestone. It glows. And her eyes glow. It might almost appear the two of them are having some sort of telepathic exchange. "Spike..." Twilight begins, turning her head to face the dragon. "The stone is trying to get out of here. I almost think it orchestrated our being here."
Clara's plea falls on many deaf ears, but it looks like the Iron Eyes are attacking more out of a sense of confusion and uncertainty than real malice. Several of them stop in their tracks, uncertain what to do, looking to Clara for leadership. The Topaz are concerned only with Featherfang. The aura of the firestone seems to overcharge the griffon's magical trinkets as he tosses them left and right, pulling out what appears to be a dagger made of crystal as he approaches the firestone. He doesn't get close, as Bardigan of all ponies is the first to crash into his side, bearing him to the ground in the middle of the squabbling Dogs. The firestone just glows all the brighter, as if reacting to the presence of the griffon and Twilight's magic.
Clara is doing her best to conjure rational behavior from the attackers, her nominal allies. She gets hit on the cheek from a spear and flinches, clashing against a pike with her own shaft. "Do no--nOt be so QuiICk inTo bAttle! RemMember, tHis wAS a PARley! RemeMeber--OW!" She leaps again to a new group, though some fighting must be taking place regardless. "FeaTherFang said NOT to attaCk unleSs thEy attaCk first--sEe how he betrayEd his own OrdeR when It beCame clleEar he might be cuT ouUtT." She glances at the firestone wall and clenches in fear, further arguments lost. She takes in the glow of the rock, reflected in the magic pony's eyes. And, acting on impulse, Clara jumps to Featherfang's side as Bardigan takes him down, shoving her firestick up next to his neck, her hand on the trigger as he himself showed her (and may now regret). "YoU aRe tOo eeEagerr for the pRrriIizZe.
"
Twilight_Sparkle's horn, then her eyes, then her entire body begin glowing like fire, as the unicorn draws long strands of flaming energy from the stone. Her mane and tail erupt into flames, in that cartoonish (imagine that!) way they do sometimes when she's frustrated by Pinkie Pie.
Diamond_Dancer Eyes widen. No. "Nonononononno!!" Diamond shrieks in utter horror when she sees her brother tackle the griffon to the ground. Her brother. The dagger. No. She can't let this happen. She WON'T let this happen. She rockets forward as fast as she possibly can; even in the darkness and the windless barrens of the underground, she leaves her trademark burst of 'starlight' behind her. She won't let him hurt Bardigan. She refuses! In a meager attempt to tackle Featherfang and wedge herself inbetwix the gryph and the pony, Diamond barrels in with no distinct sense of anyone else. The dogs, the fighting, the firestone, everything falls away. Her goal is clear and her focus is solid. This is the only thing that matters to her. "I. Will tear. You apart. If you'se. Touch him. "She pants sharply, narrowing her eyes. Finally, she turns to Twilight and Spike. "Twilight!! Get it outta here! If dare ain't nuffin ta fight over, dare ain't no reason ta fight!!"
Spike peers at Twilight, frowning. First she goes on about the stone calling to her, now..."Twi? Are you okay?" He's worried about her mental health ever since the tardiness incident, and this...this seems potentially dangerous.
The griffon is no easy target to bring down: he's already halfway up, casually tossing Bardigan aside with his superior bulk, when he feels Clara's firestick against his neck. His eyes flick towards Twilight as she overcharges. "And you should have let me have it," he growls, right before Diamond butts up against him, and shoves him away from the barrel of Clara's weapon. The momentary distraction is all he needs to release a blast of concussive force to throw his attackers away, rising up with the dagger in his claws to stab into the stone...
"No!!" shouts Clara as Diamond calls for her to teleport the firestone away... as if such a thing can be done on a mass of stone so large. "It mUsSt reMain!! You CanNnot mOove a FireStoone vEein!!" She's knocked aside by Dancer's aimless charge, expelling a canine "WoOOff!" as she tumbles. She's struck a moment later by the area attack the griffon employs. "HoOoWwWW!" Now Clara rolls to her four paws and dashes for the Topaz leader. "IroN EyeS, FeAtheRfanG has betrAyyed You! BriNg hiM DoOWn!!" It may not be strictly true, but it's all for the best if they believe him a betrayer--and that's what being a Healthkeeper is about, after all.
Twilight makes no attempt to remove the stone, for the moment, instead rearing up on her hind legs, fiery eyes flashing, and staring the gryphon down as he advances on the stone. A circle of fire rises up around her.
( Featherfang halts mid-step. In fact, everything halts as Twilight's display of sheer power makes every combatant pause and turn, then back away in fright and awe. Featherfang never managed to look like he was on fire and never burned! The Topaz leader grumbles as he grabs at Clara's arm to help him stand; he's very, very old. But he too stops and stares when Twilight takes center stage, blazing almost as bright as the magical ore behind her. "FireStooNe," he whimpers. "She-is-firestooNne!" )
Diamond_Dancer Shifts her position to dive bomb Featherfang. She's not entirely sure what will happen now that he's stabbed the large gem, but she's pretty sure she doesn't like the idea of someone stabbing HER gem. (Even, if you know, it ain't technically hers. Still.) "Alright, buddeh. You'se n' me is gonna have a lil chat. Put da daggah down, step away from da fiyah stone, and you'se tell me excatly what it is you'se done, or I'm gonna punch you'se so hard you'se gotta eat through your butt. "She hisses, stomping at the floor below her.
Spike edges away from Twilight, eyes wide. He hasn't seen this kind of display from her very many times, and he doesn't want to be in the way of whatever she's about to cast.
Clara does in fact help the Topaz leader up, even while she's trying to convince her own allies to stop their attack. "NoOo. She is pOooNny," she replies. Ponies have a certain mystique, don't they? Clara stops to watch Twilight Sparkle for only a moment. Then she quickly picks up her weapons, sheathes the pickaxe, and claps her hands three times. "ThIs HoRned PoOny knows fIirRe!" she announces, walking slowly now that the fighting has stopped. "She is nOot one to be CroSsed. This EeeEagle-Lion, howevVer, has crOoSsed her, as he Has uS aLlL." She points at Steno, who may have stabbed the rock by now--she couldn't prevent that. "Rights to the StoOne maY be in QueeStion, but He is eneEMy to ALlL of uS. Can we AgreE??"
Twilight_Sparkle is trembling--it's a lot of work, having this kind of magic flowing through your body. Even a year or two ago she might not have been capable of it. Flames swirl about her. "I think everypony...everyONE should lay down their weapons," she says, slowly and deliberately. "And I think you should probably get out of here, Featherfang. The stone really doesn't like you."
( The griffon trembles too, but not with power, but rage. He seems stuck to the spot, his chest working like bellows. The Dogs, Iron and Topaz alike, drop their weapons without hesitation. "GriFffon defiieEs the Stoonne! He is OuUrr true EnemY!" the Topaz leader agrees with Clara, and many Dogs drop down and hide their faces in shame. But Featherfang does not. His wings twitch. His muscles shiver. For a moment, it looks like he's actually going to attack Twilight... but then he relaxes. The dagger drops to the ground. "You have no idea what you are interfering with," he spits. "Favored *pet* of a pony posing as a goddess. I thought you controlled magic, Twilight Sparkle. I see now it is the other way around." He turns away, sniffing haughtily. )
But as he turns, his claw twitches. A firestick on the ground is suffused with a magic glow. It leaps into the air to aim at Twilight Sparkle... just in time for Bardigan to interpose himself before it, turning the barrel up as it fires, the magical lance searing through the pegasus' torso and on up into the ceiling. The playwright flops motionless to ground.
Featherfang bolts for the exit.
Clara knew the Topaz leader would consider the griffon a high-priority enemy, that's no surprise. She's more relieved that they've managed to stem the confused tide of Iron Eyes attackers, and perhaps managed to convince some of them they were wrong to follow the newcomer. But there's more to resolving this than that. Twilight's words that the stone doesn't like Featherfang open Clara's eyes wide. She then listens carefully to the griffon, standing upright and unsheathing her axe, readying her stick. She's not surprised at his whining. "We hAve noO idea beCause yoU have noT ChooSen to TELll uS," she points out. "BloOd fiRst and woRds AfttEr? That is Not the wAYy of--" But the firestick remains. She leaps to catch it, but is just shy of the speed she'd need to save Twilight--no, Bardigan. The one with the poetic heart. The one Diamond Dancer calls brother. "No," she breathes. Words tumble through her head: --Magical energy concentrated into a short lived beam, with a small shard of gem carried along with the blast to focus that energy.-- Clara winces, takes a large step, and turns her own firestick on Steno, pushing in on the sensitive point with her thumb. She aims for his sizable rear end, caring not if she kills him.
( Diamond. Goes. Beserk. She leaps towards Steno...Featherfang? Whomever. It really doesn't matter what he calls himself, at this point. Watching Bardigan get shot kind of kills any and all sense of restraint the little girl has and pushes each and every fury button she has at once. She doesn't leap to butt Featherfang like she did last time- she leaps to attach herself onto him. She doesn't really have a 'plan' so to speak but the rabid shrieks of "MY BROTHER! MY BROTHER!!! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!!" Might be a good indication of what she's shooting for. The only family she's ever had, taken away from her. She'll destroy him. )
Twilight_Sparkle bends over Bardigan...she touches her horn to the fallen pegasus's shoulder...and both Twilight and Bardigan are engulfed, for a few moments, in a pillar of white magic flames, hidden entirely to everyone else in the cave.
( The beam from Clara's firestick cuts through the air, the shard of gem powering it slicing into Steno's side, cutting straight through and out the other side. The mighty griffon staggers and falls, and one of his wings is limp and bloody. The other Dogs are quick to react, piling on with Diamond and kicking and punching for all they're worth. The griffon screeches brokenly, and raises his claw, with a single gemstone clasped in his talons. He cries something unintelligible, and then with a flash of light... he is gone. )
Bardigan himself is lying limp on the ground, hopefully just in shock. When Twilight touches him and the white flames roar up, there's a gentle twitch in his leg towards the unicorn, before they are lost from sight...
Clara ... stands shocked in the chaos. She... shot without expectations. But if she'd stopped to think about it, she would have expected the griffon mage-warlord to have protected himself against his own weapons. To have had some way to be immune, in case one of the interlopers he'd been... &unwise^ enough to arm chose to use it against him. Was he relying on their fear of his loyal Iron Eyes troops and their potential retribution? She sees Twilight burning in white light, hears Diamond's pounding threats and smells the vigor of piling Dogs, and realizes that Steno is gone . Now is the moment, Clara. The Wellstone visitor guilty of wounding, possibly killing the griffon Feather Fang raises her firestick high, horizontal above her head, and shouts: "JuStiCe is DOonE! Let WoUnds be TennDed beFore theRe is Any moRe fiIghTing!" There are many wounds here, including two on her own body, but Clara is thinking of two wounds in particular: those of Bardigan, who may yet live if they are lucky, and those of the firestone vein itself. She wants to tend to Bardigan, but Twilight is on it, and Clara must stand before any Iron Eyes who still wish to claim the vein for themselves.
Diamond_Dancer Is left suddenly, without any sort of way to vent her fury and frustrations. Without a body to beat on, the overly emotional little filly is left trembling, teary and twitching. Bardigan got shot, and it's all her fault. When FEatherfang vanishes like that, she sits there a moment, before she turns, quietly, and staggers off into a distant branching tunnel, by her lonesome.
( The flames finally recede, first the pillar of white, then the flames surrounding and inhabiting Twilight Sparkle. The energy slips back into the firestone, which glows like a magic eye. Twilight, her mane and tail looking a bit singed but otherwise physically not much the worse for wear. She collapses in exhaustion beside Bardigan...whose wound is merely superficial now, all but gone. )
Bardigan is as exhausted as the others, lying still and breathing gently as activity swirls around him, and the Dogs begin to pick up the pieces of their former conflict.
Clara is helping them do just that. Since the former Iron Eyes chief isn't here, she tries to identify which attacker is ranking, if they even ^have^ ranks in this backwards clan--she doesn't know all that much about them from gossip or studies. She also is trying to be a negotiating figure in her own right--and while her main objective at this point is not getting arrested or killed, she also retains hope of securing a small firestone, to which there are several possible avenues. She speaks to the Topaz leader. "As You caN seE, thIs cLan has been WhiPped into ranCor by the gRiffoN, who I think no LongeR holds SwAy over theM. It is pOssIble this Can be reSOlvEd peeAcefullLy." She glances toward Bardigan to get a quick sense of his condition, and is astonished when she sees the wound nearly gone, and the unicorn collapsed. She takes a hesitant step closer. "WhaT has HappeNed?"
Bardigan was never dead. But the wound is sealed, and the pegasus stirs again, at length. His wings twitch first, aching for open air. And his eyes flutter open, glancing around at the Dogs that mill about awkwardly. He lifts his head. "... Where's Diamond?" he whispers. "Did... did we win?" he asks the unicorn next to him, before exhaustion takes him again, and he drops back into a stupor. The Topaz leader sniffs at the air. "MuuCh lossS," he murmurs. "But WiInn weeE Didd," he says with a toothy grin to Clara. "Now, at last, we can TAlk.".
----------------
Diamond_Dancer is panicking at the complete and utter chaos she stumbles onto. Skidding to a halt when she sees the clans engaged in war, her mouth drops open and the little pony finds herself at a total loss as what to do. She hasn't had any REAL training. She doesn't know how to quash an upraising or to defend an entire clan from another clan. She doesn't know what to DO. But it doesn't stop her from trying. She zips forward, her hooves chewing up the distance between her and the first set of diamond dogs she spies fighting. "Stop! STOP! You don't have to do this! You don't hafta fight!! "She calls, but she already knows it's useless. Of the two fighting, Iron Eyes and Topaz, one already, obviously has the upper paw. A dog standing atop the other, holding a pick-axe and ready to deliver a killing blow. He is, however, stunned and confused when he brings that axe down, not to find the satisfying 'thud' of the blade digging into the other dog's skull, but finding it cracking into shards on the hide of Diamond's shoulder.
" STOP IT!" She snarls- and thats that. She's already gone, racing towards another set of Dogs, fighting violently. She wedges herself inbetween them, kicking and bucking to knock them away from each other, but it isn't enough. There are far to many skirmishes going on, and only one little pony. "N, No! Stop! Please!! You don't hafta- N, NO!! DON'" She shudders, watching these terrible things unfurl, and thats when it hits her. She CAN get around faster than this. The same trick she used down in Tartarus! -Not one that she's practiced too much but the effects should still be the same! It takes her a moment, standing where she is in the middle of all this chaos to find her targets, but she does. It's like drawing a star in the sky- only it's horizontal, and each point is a life or death battle between diamond dogs. Suddenly she's off like a shot- pony pinball anyone? Ding, ding, ding, ding ding, bing, ding, ping POW! She ricochets from one fighting group to another, leaving a bright shining streak of light in her wake and bluntly crashing into anyone she can to stop them from killing each other. Upon her fourth ricochet, she comes across a diamond dog wielding a sledgehammer, and bringing it down atop another dog's head. He, instead, twists about, and brings it down into Diamond's head instead in a most unprecedented display of timing and dexterity. Or maybe it's just timing. Or maybe he's just lucky. Or maybe Diamond's just getting tired. The result is all the same though- it stops Diamond in her tracks with a sickening crunch and leaves the pony on the ground amidst all this chaos.
Clara is not too far behind the Dancer when her first intercessionary event occurs. Clara's jaws squeeze tight as she flinches. But Diamond is okay so far. " We aRe toO laaAte!" she calls futilely, racing toward her friend and 'ward'. Diamond's abilities come into full play now, or close to it. Clara stops and stands in awe. She knows that something like this happened in Tartarus, but she didn't witness it directly, having been preoccupied at the time. She ducks and barely avoids getting bodyslammed herself. "STOOoOP!!" she yells, though it's not clear whether to Diamond or the warriors. "TheRe are Still nEgoTiAaAtiOns to Be H--" Then it ^does^ stop, and Clara winces threefold, wishing she hadn't ever wished it so. She hurries to Diamond, keeping one eye on the hostile fighter. "YoU musT spAare her," she pleads tangentially while taking a look at how bad the damage is.
There's fighting in nearly every tunnel that Bardigan passes. This is how Diamond Dogs fight: in three dimensions. He can't keep track of what tunnels go where; he only knows to try and find Diamond in the middle of this mess. He just knows he's behind Clara, and he quickly loses her in the chaos. "Diamond!" he calls out ineffectually, hearing several loud, unnatural noises in the tunnels apart from the barks and whimpers of Dogs: loud, rolling *booms* that are like small explosions. "Twilight!" he calls over his shoulder, hoping against hope the unicorn is still with him. "Can you find a way to track those stones? I know Clara took one! If we find her, we might find Diamond!"
( The Dog standing over Diamond spits at the ground at Clara's feet. It's an Iron Eyes. "Ponies aRe weAk," he says, picking up the weapon Steno provided their forces. "With *thEeesE, IrOn EyEs wilL be StRoonnG." He turns to a Topaz that just breached the cavern floor, pointing the iron cylinder at him, and makes an odd movement with his wrist. There's a loud, shimmering *fwoosh*, and yellow-green fire lances out and strikes the Topaz in the chest, burning a grisly hole straight through. The Iron Eyes growls with satisfaction. "StRooNG!" he crows, heading off to rejoin his fellows. )
Twilight_Sparkle's hooves pound against the cave floor as she races about, with Spike clinging to her for dear life as chaos erupts all around.. "Diamond Dancer! Diamond Dancer!" she calls out, frantically. At Bardigan's suggestion, she calls back "I'll try! She's over...this way! Follow me!" She races toward the menacing sounds, hoping that it's just a trick of cave echoes that her ears are telling her she's headed straight into danger. She arrives just in time to seethe Iron eyes and his little trick, and gasp at it...but she gasps more when she sees what's become of Diamond Dancer. "Oh Celestia, please don't let her be seriously hurt!" she begs, to no one in the room, as she hurries to the small fallen pony's side.
Diamond_Dancer is already climbing to her hooves. She's pissed off, and the dog cowers before her might, obviously unaware who he was messing with, but clearly realizing he is WAY out of his league. At least, thats what Diamond sees in her head. No, no, in reality, she's TRYING to climbs, but not quite succeeding in this venture. Catching a sledge hammer to the face while flying as fast as she can in the conditons of the tunnel is not precident to a speedy recovery in most situations to most normal ponies. Diamond is hardly normal. She manages to get to her hooves for a moment, stumbles to her left, and then collapses on the groudn again, hooves twisted underneath her. "You'se...Y, you'se jush...jush you'se wait..."She sputters, watching in horror at the weapon being fired and the result it has, and the fact that theres nothing she can do about it. But already her headache is fading away, and the little one is climbing to her hooves. "I...I am unbreakable. I'm not weak. I'm NOT!! "She snarls, as if the dog's insult was direct and personal. She shoots forward again -her 'Dazzling Diamond Dash' or 'Meteor Missle' or whatever she's named her manuver this week, to crash into the dog- head first like a little black and white wrecking ball. She can't do any of her more spectacular moves with so little space and no room to fly. But she doesn't feel pain, and with that being the case- she stretches to put it to use where she can here.
"She can't be," Bardigan whispers, moving unsteadily as though he has to physically force himself closer to Diamond. His knees are knocking together, and he can't lift a hoof without it shaking violently. "She can't be hurt badly. She's, she's invincible," he gasps, his breath coming in short bursts. When she stands again, he reaches out, almost crying out in relief... and then she goes shooting off again. "DIAMOND DANCER YOU COME BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, looking to Twilight with a pleading expression. "Your magic! Make her stop!" he all but begs the unicorn. This isn't something any of them should be a part of. The Dog Diamond crashes into crumples like paper, wheezing for breath, but that doesn't stop the sounds of combat coming from other chambers... alongside Featherfang's barking, commanding voice.
Clara isn't, for her part, sure that Diamond is the one who should stop what she's doing. She stands there, arms somewhat akimbo, panting, and steps to one side to avoid impact. This situation has the better of Clara, having escalated faster than she expected. She hears Bardigan calling and calls back: "ThIs wAAy!!" To the Iron Eyes warrior that Diamond imagined cowing but didn't, Clara frowns and shakes her head. "They wIll make you strRong either uNtil he betRaaYs you, or until anotHer, stRonger Weaopn is NeeEded, and FooUnd. Then theY will be Nothing but oRdinaNce, and at gReAt PrIice."
Spike looks around nervously. He's clinging closely to Twilight's back, shivering a little. "Um, Twilight? Should we maybe...be getting out of here?" The unicorn is, herself, frantically assessing the situation. "It's getting hard to see what useful purpose our being here serves...but we can't leave without Diamond Dancer. And I can't teleport her out, or even back here, if I can't get a lock on her." She races after the small pony again. "Diamond Dancer! We really ought to get to safety! Not everypony here is invincible and somepony is going to get seriously hurt!"
Diamond_Dancer tackles that diamond dog to the ground, and stamps and stomps and CRUSHES the weapon dropped to the ground. Livid and furious, she gives a snarl, and starts running again, only to freeze at Twilight's words. /Not everypony here is invincible/ And now she's dreadfully torn. "N, no...I can't, I...T, they're fighting, I've gotta stop dem. I can't...I..."She stammers, quite unsure what to do- or how to stop them, or how to protect everyone. Thats what a 'guard' does, right? They protect?
"Diamond Desiree Dancer, you listen to your brother!" Bardigan shouts as loud as he dares. He finds himself lagging behind once again, cursing his overweighted bags and his figure, which while quite svelte is hardly made for this kind of duress. He comes up last, panting heavily from fatigue and adrenaline, only barely able to see the others ahead through the dim tunnels. "Diamond! We're getting out of here *now,* we're leaving. We're going ho-" *Crunch... CRACK* goes the rock above his head as three Topaz Dogs appear from the ceiling and drop right on top of the playwright. They look around in a fright, and one of them notices Bardigan beneath them.
"PooOnY!" "Pony?!" another shouts. "TaaAkE hiM! QuiCklY!"
And in seconds, the bard is hefted up on strong shoulders and borne down into the ground, too dazed to even lift a hoof in protest.
Clara now hears Twilight calling for help. Her great ears twitch and flop and twitch again. She stands with her pickaxe in defensive posture, fighting off those warriors not caught in Diamond Dancer's barrage, until the ambush comes. She hears the cracking of the rock and anticipates trouble. By the time they reach Bardigan, she's nearly there. She gives chase until they descend, and then, shaking, looks for the unicorn, the dragonling, and her ward. "The bAarRd has bEen aCcOsSted and SeeizeD!" she shouts, hoping to draw them near, and quickly.
Twilight_Sparkle spins around, at Clara's words! "NO!" She gallops over, bringing poor Spike along. By the time unicorn and dragon arrive, the hole is filled with dirt again. She looks over her shoulder at Spike, Dragon and unicorn exchange nods, and in moments, Spike is tail-jackhammering a new hole in the same spot. "Hang on, Bardigan, I'm going to get you out of there!" Twilight calls, frantically.
( Firefly said to be calm in situations like this. Reserved and thoughtful, which is, probably the very oppisite end of Diamond's reaction spectrum. If she were calm, it lasts for only a few moments, and she begins pracing in place, quite unsure how to deal with this new devlopment. Great, now she's seperated from her brother. She knew better than to drag him along! If he gets hurt she'll never ever forgive herself! She can't build enough momentum in the cramped tunnels to use a high speed strike, and even if she could, she doubts she could burrow through rock like that. "C, Clara, can you'se dig him out?! O, or maybe..."She trails off, looking back at the smashed weapony. RATS! "W, where will dey take him?! What will dey DO wif him!? )
"They will do what any desperate force will do when cornered," Steno announces, striding down the hall towards them with several Iron Eyes in tow. "They will use him as a bargaining chip." He lifts up the bracelet on his left left, which glows with an eerie light that pulsates. "I used the Seeking Stones to stay close to you all, and felt when the playwright was taken... I knew this attack had to be some kind of diversion. The Topaz are already withdrawing." "FeaThErFaaNG!" another Iron Eyes barks as he comes racing down the tunnel. "ExpLoSIoonN at thE CaMp! MAaaNy supPlIes rAided!" The griffon nods, taking the bad news in stride. "As I suspected. Fortunately... your friend being taken may now be turned to our advantage."
Clara's reactions are mixed and complex. At first she nods, falling to all fours and egging Twilight and Spike on in their unusual method of pursuit. She even takes a good, hard swing at the dirt with her pick, sending a measure of it flying. "DiiIAmoNd. We mUSt foLlow, I taAke it? The bArd is not eXpennDibLe?" She throws a clod of earth out, half-standing in the pit. "We can attemPt to clEar a shAaaft wherein yoU can use your AbiiillitIies," she decides. But before they can attempt that strategem, the griffon warlord reappears and Clara leaps from the hold, lip twitching. "You are Uusing uS," she accuses. "AnD what is a plAaywrIght?" She looks between the others to gauge their reactions. "Did you plAan for thiS to oCcur?"
Twilight_Sparkle leaves Spike to his digging, for a moment, and steps next to Clara. "I'd like to know the answer to that too," she says, narrowing her eyes. "If anything happens to anypony in this group..." She looks at Clara, and at Spike. "Any BEING in this group, I guarantee the wrath of Celestia AND Luna is going to come down on all of you. I'll personally see to it." Her eyes and horn flash red.
Diamond_Dancer's shoulders just slump. She knew, she knew, she KNEW he was about to turn up. This was all just to convienent. "...What do we do, to get him back. He is not expendable. He ain't heaven...he's my bruddah. "She explains quietly. You'se playin puppet masta from da git go, but fine. I'll bite. Dey wanna bargin, we bargin. How do we git him back?" She asks quietly. "...Anyding happens to him...anyding at all, and dare ain't no corner of da world dat you'll be able to hide from me. "She says softly. "I mean, if dares anyding left after da unicorn gets done wif you'se, dat is.
"No, I did not plan for this," the griffon answers quickly, raising his head to get a little further away from Twilight's threat, and to increase his presence. His wings shiver noticeably when Twilight's magic flares up, but he keeps his composure otherwise. "I am not the one you should be making threats towards. And nothing *will* happen if we act quickly. The Topaz are growing desperate to engage our forces so directly. What good fortune that your friend just so happens to have his Seeking Stone with him, hmm?" he says, eyes narrowing just slightly. "They will take him to their base camp, which I have been unable to locate... until now. We will follow. Once we are there, a show of force in their own home will force them to acquiesce to *any* demands we may make." He picks up one of the magical cannons, looking over it critically. "You are free to dislike me. But we *are* still working to the same ends."
Clara's mind appears to be running quickly. But how well can she really function in these quickly shifting conditions? She looks at the magical cannon, sets her jaw, and holds out a bulky hand, rising to her legs. She seems to expect Featherfang to give it to her. "We wiLl go toGether, but we wIll all be AaRmed," she says.
Twilight_Sparkle frowns, and narrows her eyes, but she nods at the gryphon. "We'll work together, but right now all I want is to get my friends to safety. We'll be at cross purposes in a hurry if you compromise any of them."
Diamond_Dancer sighs deeply, and just hangs her head. "OK, whatever, alright. Les jus GO! If we wait, he might be hoyt. We follow, we used da stone, dings, we end dis conflict, we go home. ...I can't leave with so many creatures fightin...I just can't. "She says quietly.
Twilight_Sparkle touches her hoof to Dancer's shoulder. "Now you know how the princesses feel every day," she says, softly.
( "*I*?" Steno says, placing a claw on his chest. "Twilight Sparkle, it is the Topaz who are your enemy. They compromised the safety of your friends. Focus on them, for it is *their* decision now whether your... playwright... gets out of this in one piece." He glances at Clara and considers her for a little while, his keen predator's gaze unwavering. "... Very well," he says, and hands the weapon to her. "Push forward on the shaft with your thumb here. That will spark the magical catalyst and unleash the energy. You have enough power for two shots. Do be careful where you point it." )
He turns to the other Dogs next, pointing at the place where Bardign used to be. "Dig," he commands, and they fan out, following both the same trail that the Topaz took, and making several diversionary tunnels, guided all the while by Steno, who holds aloft his magical artifacts, gauging the distance and direction. "They move fast," he reports. "But not far. We will be upon them before they can prepare for us."
Clara meets the griffon's eyes, presenting the image of a creature incapable of the 'betrayal' she's twice now condemned, and a tough one to boot. She takes the weapon without any sign of surprise. "Two shots," she repeats, and moves her thumb in the air above where it must be pushed, as practice. "YoU are a briLliaNt one." Clara sheaths her pickaxe in the sleeve in back of her vest and starts digging along with the others, using her claws alone. She keeps her senses sharp. "SuRely yOu know whaT atTacks the Topaz Clan has witHstOod in the paSst," she half-hisses to Steno. "They aRe welL-prePared and diSssciplIned, if stOries are to be BelievveD. They must exPecT this Attack, bUt for the SeEkINg StOones... and that... is a lOt to stake our FaAtes upon." Yet Clara digs, even if the situation has her ^very^ uncomfortable.
Twilight_Sparkle looks to Spike, and is about to tell him to get out of the dogs' way, but he's just having so much fun digging that she lets him join in.
Diamond_Dancer steps back, watching the weapons being trained and turns towards the griffon. "...What do those weapons do? Is it just a blast of like, really powahful magic or somedin?" She asks thoughtfully, flexing her wings...
( Steno has no answer for Clara save a sharp, humorless glance. It seems he agrees with her... he just doesn't particularly care for the details. Diamond's question forces a sigh from him. "Magical energy concentrated into a short lived beam," he explains, "with a small shard of gem carried along with the blast to focus that energy. It is a projectile weapon in the strictest sense, but while simple rocks and metal can be stopped by magical enchantments... the naturally volatile nature of these weapons ensures only the most powerful wizards can defend against them on short notice." They dig, in tense ominous silence now, for the better part of an hour, making good progress as the Iron Eyes lead the way. "We are close," he murmurs. His bracelet is glowing almost white hot, and Twilight is privy to the same sensation: a burning, vibrating *presence.* "We are close to the Firestone," Steno whispers. "Strange they would risk it by leading us there." )
Clara, in turn, doesn't attend much to the magical description of the weapon that must fascinate Twilight. She needs only to know their relative strength and that they are superior to any defenses known to Diamond Dogs. She restrains herself from talking with her companions for most of the dig, deterred by the griffon's presence. Once, though, she whispers to Twilight: "The spEll for escape. WiLl it be ready?"
Twilight_Sparkle's whole body is tense. She feels it, to her core. She also seems to be taking notes, mentally, though mercifully she doesn't make the still-digging Spike physically jot them down for her. She nods to Clara, and whispers back, "Get us all into a 40-hoof radius and I *can* get us out." She looks around, as if sensing something unexpected. A presence she's not felt since...well. Star Wars reference aside, she's aware of the firestone.
Diamond_Dancer takes a deep breath. She's also taking it in. All of it. Bardigan, the firestone, Steno. And the description of the weapons and the function. Highly concentrated beam of magical energy. CAN she take one of those and keep going? A sledgehammer to the skull, sure? Slamming into the earth at a bajillion miles per hour is no problem...but magic...well thats different all together. It's making her...nervous, but if it means she can keep Bardigan safe, it doesn't matter if she's invincible or not...
The strange feeling is keenly felt by anypony familiar with magic... namely, Twilight. It's like a warm body more than a magical gem, a pulsing vein with its own directions and concerns in the world different from the ones seeking to mine it. This is something that channels pure magic; something that carries a portion of the world's lifeblood. After another hour, the lead digging Dog holds up a paw to halt the advance, snatching Spike's tail to stop his jackhammering. Steno nods quietly, and points forward with his talon. "Do not shoot unless they attack us first," he murmurs. The lead Dog raises a pickaxe, waiting one more moment... and then brings the point down, collapsing the wall ahead of them. The Iron Eyes charge into the breach, howling to announce their presence. And behind a few Dog-shaped silhouettes further into the cavern, and one winged pony, there glimmers a long vein of orange. The Firestone is there, in reach, suffusing the entire open cavern with pure magical energy. "TOPAZ!" Steno roars, magically amplifying his voice. "LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR TREATIES, NOT BLOOD!" And, surprisingly, no spears come flying at them. Instead, Bardigan steps forward, with a cloaked Diamond Dog at his side.
Clara feels the firestone too, though. Not because of its magic, but because of its heat. The particular way it radiates through the rock. She's been exposed to stories about these things for a long time, after all, and other stones have similar properties. When the lead digger grabs Spike's tail, she cradles her firestick under one arm and takes his shoulder with the other, aiming to calmly secure the dragon's release. "We musSt alL be prEpaAred for wHat is abOut to trnSpiIiRe." She stands aside from the final blow through the wall. Even though Clara was expecting firestones to be near, she's amazed and temporarily stunned at the purity and vast quantity of it. It's several seconds before she remembers to ready her weapon.
( A strange feeling is keenly felt by anypony familiar with magic: namely, Twilight. The firestone is more like a warm body more than a magical gem, a pulsing vein with its own directions and concerns in the world different from the ones seeking to mine it. This is something that channels pure magic; something that carries a portion of the world's lifeblood, and gets stronger as they get closer. After another hour, the lead digging Dog holds up a paw to halt the advance, snatching Spike's tail to stop his jackhammering. Steno nods quietly, and points forward with his talon. "Do not shoot unless they attack us first," he murmurs. The lead Dog raises a pickaxe, waiting one more moment... and then brings the point down, collapsing the wall ahead of them. The Iron Eyes charge into the breach, howling to announce their presence. And behind a few Dog-shaped silhouettes further into the cavern, and one winged pony, there glimmers a long vein of orange. The Firestone is there, in reach, suffusing the entire open cavern with pure magical energy. "TOPAZ!" Steno roars, magically amplifying his voice. "LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR TREATIES, NOT BLOOD!" And, surprisingly, no spears come flying at them. In front of the firestone vein is clumped a loose mob of Topaz Dogs, spears at the ready. Bardigan is in the midst of them, next to a hunchbacked Dog hooded and cloaked.
( Clara feels the firestone too, though. Not because of its magic, but because of its heat. The particular way it radiates through the rock. She's been exposed to stories about these things for a long time, after all, and other stones have similar properties. When the lead digger grabs Spike's tail, she cradles her firestick under one arm and takes his shoulder with the other, aiming to calmly secure the dragon's release. "We musSt alL be prEpaAred for wHat is abOut to trnSpiIiRe." She stands aside from the final blow through the wall. Even though Clara was expecting firestones to be near, she's amazed and temporarily stunned at the purity and vast quantity of it. It's several seconds before she remembers to ready her weapon. )
Diamond_Dancer's eyes widen immediately when she spots her sibling. The hyper little pegasus instantly overjoyed at seeing him unharmed, she races forward, blindly, regardless of the numberous weapons surrounding her, and the situation. Everything is secondary to Bardigan's safety- even her own star. "BARDIGAN!" She calls out!
Twilight_Sparkle readies herself as well! She has a teleportation spell on the tip of her horn; the only reason she doesn't immediately zap Bardigan to safety is, it's not immediately clear where safety is. Nevertheless, her horn and eyes aglow, she looks quite a bit more threatening than she really is, to anypony not aware of her intent. It could be a death ray! It isn't, but it COULD be.
Spike is somewhat entranced by the stone, his eyes glowing with the reflection. He's not a magic user in the way Twilight is, but he can still sense the powerful magic field of the firestone as it interacts with his own natural magic. He whispers to Twilight, "Is it even safe to harvest that? I mean, it seems powerful, and important, where it is."
Twilight_Sparkle nods, slowly. "I was thinking the same thing! It feels...wrong, to even think of interfering with it. Like cutting into a vein." She and Celestia are going to have a lot to talk about.
"Wait, *wait!*" Bardigan shouts, pushing to the front of the crowd and opening his hooves to catch Diamond. He's covered in dirt, but no worse for wear, but all the Topaz Dogs look tense and frightened, eyes on Featherfang as he steps forward. "Enough lives have been lost," he says in a cold, rolling voice, the type of voice a predator that knows he's won the chase might use. "Give up the firestone." "NooOOt to YouUu," the hunchbacked Dog says, pointing his staff at the griffon, which quickly swings towards Twilight and Spike. "PooOonies. YoUr frieeEnd is UnHaarrMed. NooOne of Usss wish for HaaRrmmm. But you CaANnnot haVee the StooOone so long as the GrifFon stAnds with you."
Clara is aware that Twilight is planning a teleportation spell, and even she is made apprehensive by the pony's appearance and demeanor. She steps away from Twilight, keeping an eye on her. But she nods to the dragon and his master. "It is ^noT^ safe to haaRvest, bUt sometiMes it is woorRth it anNywaAy," she contributes. "Its GuarrdIans are DoOgs of DiscipLine." She watches Diamond rush into the fray and moves to follow at a distance, her expression heated and ready. She finds herself addressed the cowled figure, whom she assumes is a leader, if not ^the^ Leader, or the Teacher, as lore has it. "Do you HavVe truUCk with tHis grifFon maAge?" She moves to keep her distance from Featherfang, though he must hear her. "Is iT not the Loss of the tReaSUre, but the Prospect of hiS gaAin, to WhicH you oBjeect?"
addressed=addressing
Diamond_Dancer falls into Bardigan's grasp, hugging him tightly, and cherishing the moment. Thanking her lucky star that he's not hurt, she turns, slowly, towards the rest of the canines, and rubs a hoof through her mane. The dirty, tired little filly eager and ready to go blow for blow and pound for pound with each of these dogs if she has to. But that doesn't seem to be the case. "So...let me git dis straight. Basicially...you give us da firestone, da griffion (Gryphon) don't get it, da war stops, cause dare ain't nuffin ta fight over no more, and feddahfang can go and find another hole wif anudda firestone in it, dat WON'T start a war between dogs? Dis, seems like a good idea!"
Spike is skipping his turn.
Twilight_Sparkle steps forward, toward the firestone. Her horn glows, and even sparks a little, like an overloaded electrical plug. She stares at it, entranced for a few moments by its sheer power.
"TheREee is NoOo gAiin for annNyone," the Topaz speaker intones. "The GrifFon is hEere to bRing loss to AlLl." "The only loss here is to be had with listening to you," Featherfang shoots back. "I am here for a small part of a stone you are dying to protect." "From you!" the Dog snaps. "I knOow what it is YouuU BriiinG. I knooW whyYy you are HeerRe." The Dog reaches into his cloak, and pulls out a strange little amulet, and Featherfang's eyes widen. "Iii have SeeEennN youR CiTyyy," the Dog growls. "And it is WaannTinggg. You seek to DesTroYyy the stone when you Seiiize your PorTiion. This wilLll nOt be AllooweD." There's a beat of silence. And then Featherfang raises a claw, and his bracelet glows. There is a terrible, ghastly noise that echoes to the very bones, knocking anyone nearby and in the path of his talons to the ground, and in the midst of the echo comes Featherfang's command. "They refuse to give up the stone! Destroy them!" Chaos breaks loose as the Iron Eyes attack, and Featherfang shrieks as
he charges the Topaz, going directly for the firestone.
Clara wants a part of this conversation. She wants to be able to think of it as a negotiation, but can't in good conscience--not how it's going. She opens her mouth, starting to interject the need for more discussion, but the two shrill speakers dominate the proceedings too much for a word to slip in cornerwise. Now Clara is glad she stood well away from the griffon. She retains her footing in the wake of the sound and blast. "NOoO!" she shouts, managing a pretty good bellow for a bitch. "IroOn eEYes! HaVe you hEarRd nOOthinG the ToPaz TEacHer has saIdd??" She dodges a charge and then whirls about, not attacking the Topaz but attempting to make a strategic stand about a group of Iron Eyes, her pickaxe at the ready in one hand and her firestick in the other. They should know what these things can do. Hopefully Clara doesn't get bowled over when she shouts, "DoeS lOoSS for AlLl souNd liKe a GooOoD iDDeA?!"
Diamond_Dancer's ears perk in alarm, and the little white and ebony pony raises up, pumping her wings as hard as possible. There isn't any wind to be had underground, so flying is very difficult for a pegasus, but she manages. "NO MORE FIGHTING! NO MORE FIGHTING!" She shrieks as loud as she possibly can, glancing around frantically. Back to the drawing board. "Dis ain't worth it! Look, WE'LL take da firestone! WE TAKE IT! Noone else gits hoyt!"
Spike hides behind Twilight, while trying not to *look* like he's hiding behind Twilight. He's waiting, trying to see how the situation will pan out -- while simultaneously ready to help her if the need arises.
Twilight_Sparkle is still staring into the firestone. It glows. And her eyes glow. It might almost appear the two of them are having some sort of telepathic exchange. "Spike..." Twilight begins, turning her head to face the dragon. "The stone is trying to get out of here. I almost think it orchestrated our being here."
Clara's plea falls on many deaf ears, but it looks like the Iron Eyes are attacking more out of a sense of confusion and uncertainty than real malice. Several of them stop in their tracks, uncertain what to do, looking to Clara for leadership. The Topaz are concerned only with Featherfang. The aura of the firestone seems to overcharge the griffon's magical trinkets as he tosses them left and right, pulling out what appears to be a dagger made of crystal as he approaches the firestone. He doesn't get close, as Bardigan of all ponies is the first to crash into his side, bearing him to the ground in the middle of the squabbling Dogs. The firestone just glows all the brighter, as if reacting to the presence of the griffon and Twilight's magic.
Clara is doing her best to conjure rational behavior from the attackers, her nominal allies. She gets hit on the cheek from a spear and flinches, clashing against a pike with her own shaft. "Do no--nOt be so QuiICk inTo bAttle! RemMember, tHis wAS a PARley! RemeMeber--OW!" She leaps again to a new group, though some fighting must be taking place regardless. "FeaTherFang said NOT to attaCk unleSs thEy attaCk first--sEe how he betrayEd his own OrdeR when It beCame clleEar he might be cuT ouUtT." She glances at the firestone wall and clenches in fear, further arguments lost. She takes in the glow of the rock, reflected in the magic pony's eyes. And, acting on impulse, Clara jumps to Featherfang's side as Bardigan takes him down, shoving her firestick up next to his neck, her hand on the trigger as he himself showed her (and may now regret). "YoU aRe tOo eeEagerr for the pRrriIizZe.
"
Twilight_Sparkle's horn, then her eyes, then her entire body begin glowing like fire, as the unicorn draws long strands of flaming energy from the stone. Her mane and tail erupt into flames, in that cartoonish (imagine that!) way they do sometimes when she's frustrated by Pinkie Pie.
Diamond_Dancer Eyes widen. No. "Nonononononno!!" Diamond shrieks in utter horror when she sees her brother tackle the griffon to the ground. Her brother. The dagger. No. She can't let this happen. She WON'T let this happen. She rockets forward as fast as she possibly can; even in the darkness and the windless barrens of the underground, she leaves her trademark burst of 'starlight' behind her. She won't let him hurt Bardigan. She refuses! In a meager attempt to tackle Featherfang and wedge herself inbetwix the gryph and the pony, Diamond barrels in with no distinct sense of anyone else. The dogs, the fighting, the firestone, everything falls away. Her goal is clear and her focus is solid. This is the only thing that matters to her. "I. Will tear. You apart. If you'se. Touch him. "She pants sharply, narrowing her eyes. Finally, she turns to Twilight and Spike. "Twilight!! Get it outta here! If dare ain't nuffin ta fight over, dare ain't no reason ta fight!!"
Spike peers at Twilight, frowning. First she goes on about the stone calling to her, now..."Twi? Are you okay?" He's worried about her mental health ever since the tardiness incident, and this...this seems potentially dangerous.
The griffon is no easy target to bring down: he's already halfway up, casually tossing Bardigan aside with his superior bulk, when he feels Clara's firestick against his neck. His eyes flick towards Twilight as she overcharges. "And you should have let me have it," he growls, right before Diamond butts up against him, and shoves him away from the barrel of Clara's weapon. The momentary distraction is all he needs to release a blast of concussive force to throw his attackers away, rising up with the dagger in his claws to stab into the stone...
"No!!" shouts Clara as Diamond calls for her to teleport the firestone away... as if such a thing can be done on a mass of stone so large. "It mUsSt reMain!! You CanNnot mOove a FireStoone vEein!!" She's knocked aside by Dancer's aimless charge, expelling a canine "WoOOff!" as she tumbles. She's struck a moment later by the area attack the griffon employs. "HoOoWwWW!" Now Clara rolls to her four paws and dashes for the Topaz leader. "IroN EyeS, FeAtheRfanG has betrAyyed You! BriNg hiM DoOWn!!" It may not be strictly true, but it's all for the best if they believe him a betrayer--and that's what being a Healthkeeper is about, after all.
Twilight makes no attempt to remove the stone, for the moment, instead rearing up on her hind legs, fiery eyes flashing, and staring the gryphon down as he advances on the stone. A circle of fire rises up around her.
( Featherfang halts mid-step. In fact, everything halts as Twilight's display of sheer power makes every combatant pause and turn, then back away in fright and awe. Featherfang never managed to look like he was on fire and never burned! The Topaz leader grumbles as he grabs at Clara's arm to help him stand; he's very, very old. But he too stops and stares when Twilight takes center stage, blazing almost as bright as the magical ore behind her. "FireStooNe," he whimpers. "She-is-firestooNne!" )
Diamond_Dancer Shifts her position to dive bomb Featherfang. She's not entirely sure what will happen now that he's stabbed the large gem, but she's pretty sure she doesn't like the idea of someone stabbing HER gem. (Even, if you know, it ain't technically hers. Still.) "Alright, buddeh. You'se n' me is gonna have a lil chat. Put da daggah down, step away from da fiyah stone, and you'se tell me excatly what it is you'se done, or I'm gonna punch you'se so hard you'se gotta eat through your butt. "She hisses, stomping at the floor below her.
Spike edges away from Twilight, eyes wide. He hasn't seen this kind of display from her very many times, and he doesn't want to be in the way of whatever she's about to cast.
Clara does in fact help the Topaz leader up, even while she's trying to convince her own allies to stop their attack. "NoOo. She is pOooNny," she replies. Ponies have a certain mystique, don't they? Clara stops to watch Twilight Sparkle for only a moment. Then she quickly picks up her weapons, sheathes the pickaxe, and claps her hands three times. "ThIs HoRned PoOny knows fIirRe!" she announces, walking slowly now that the fighting has stopped. "She is nOot one to be CroSsed. This EeeEagle-Lion, howevVer, has crOoSsed her, as he Has uS aLlL." She points at Steno, who may have stabbed the rock by now--she couldn't prevent that. "Rights to the StoOne maY be in QueeStion, but He is eneEMy to ALlL of uS. Can we AgreE??"
Twilight_Sparkle is trembling--it's a lot of work, having this kind of magic flowing through your body. Even a year or two ago she might not have been capable of it. Flames swirl about her. "I think everypony...everyONE should lay down their weapons," she says, slowly and deliberately. "And I think you should probably get out of here, Featherfang. The stone really doesn't like you."
( The griffon trembles too, but not with power, but rage. He seems stuck to the spot, his chest working like bellows. The Dogs, Iron and Topaz alike, drop their weapons without hesitation. "GriFffon defiieEs the Stoonne! He is OuUrr true EnemY!" the Topaz leader agrees with Clara, and many Dogs drop down and hide their faces in shame. But Featherfang does not. His wings twitch. His muscles shiver. For a moment, it looks like he's actually going to attack Twilight... but then he relaxes. The dagger drops to the ground. "You have no idea what you are interfering with," he spits. "Favored *pet* of a pony posing as a goddess. I thought you controlled magic, Twilight Sparkle. I see now it is the other way around." He turns away, sniffing haughtily. )
But as he turns, his claw twitches. A firestick on the ground is suffused with a magic glow. It leaps into the air to aim at Twilight Sparkle... just in time for Bardigan to interpose himself before it, turning the barrel up as it fires, the magical lance searing through the pegasus' torso and on up into the ceiling. The playwright flops motionless to ground.
Featherfang bolts for the exit.
Clara knew the Topaz leader would consider the griffon a high-priority enemy, that's no surprise. She's more relieved that they've managed to stem the confused tide of Iron Eyes attackers, and perhaps managed to convince some of them they were wrong to follow the newcomer. But there's more to resolving this than that. Twilight's words that the stone doesn't like Featherfang open Clara's eyes wide. She then listens carefully to the griffon, standing upright and unsheathing her axe, readying her stick. She's not surprised at his whining. "We hAve noO idea beCause yoU have noT ChooSen to TELll uS," she points out. "BloOd fiRst and woRds AfttEr? That is Not the wAYy of--" But the firestick remains. She leaps to catch it, but is just shy of the speed she'd need to save Twilight--no, Bardigan. The one with the poetic heart. The one Diamond Dancer calls brother. "No," she breathes. Words tumble through her head: --Magical energy concentrated into a short lived beam, with a small shard of gem carried along with the blast to focus that energy.-- Clara winces, takes a large step, and turns her own firestick on Steno, pushing in on the sensitive point with her thumb. She aims for his sizable rear end, caring not if she kills him.
( Diamond. Goes. Beserk. She leaps towards Steno...Featherfang? Whomever. It really doesn't matter what he calls himself, at this point. Watching Bardigan get shot kind of kills any and all sense of restraint the little girl has and pushes each and every fury button she has at once. She doesn't leap to butt Featherfang like she did last time- she leaps to attach herself onto him. She doesn't really have a 'plan' so to speak but the rabid shrieks of "MY BROTHER! MY BROTHER!!! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!!" Might be a good indication of what she's shooting for. The only family she's ever had, taken away from her. She'll destroy him. )
Twilight_Sparkle bends over Bardigan...she touches her horn to the fallen pegasus's shoulder...and both Twilight and Bardigan are engulfed, for a few moments, in a pillar of white magic flames, hidden entirely to everyone else in the cave.
( The beam from Clara's firestick cuts through the air, the shard of gem powering it slicing into Steno's side, cutting straight through and out the other side. The mighty griffon staggers and falls, and one of his wings is limp and bloody. The other Dogs are quick to react, piling on with Diamond and kicking and punching for all they're worth. The griffon screeches brokenly, and raises his claw, with a single gemstone clasped in his talons. He cries something unintelligible, and then with a flash of light... he is gone. )
Bardigan himself is lying limp on the ground, hopefully just in shock. When Twilight touches him and the white flames roar up, there's a gentle twitch in his leg towards the unicorn, before they are lost from sight...
Clara ... stands shocked in the chaos. She... shot without expectations. But if she'd stopped to think about it, she would have expected the griffon mage-warlord to have protected himself against his own weapons. To have had some way to be immune, in case one of the interlopers he'd been... &unwise^ enough to arm chose to use it against him. Was he relying on their fear of his loyal Iron Eyes troops and their potential retribution? She sees Twilight burning in white light, hears Diamond's pounding threats and smells the vigor of piling Dogs, and realizes that Steno is gone . Now is the moment, Clara. The Wellstone visitor guilty of wounding, possibly killing the griffon Feather Fang raises her firestick high, horizontal above her head, and shouts: "JuStiCe is DOonE! Let WoUnds be TennDed beFore theRe is Any moRe fiIghTing!" There are many wounds here, including two on her own body, but Clara is thinking of two wounds in particular: those of Bardigan, who may yet live if they are lucky, and those of the firestone vein itself. She wants to tend to Bardigan, but Twilight is on it, and Clara must stand before any Iron Eyes who still wish to claim the vein for themselves.
Diamond_Dancer Is left suddenly, without any sort of way to vent her fury and frustrations. Without a body to beat on, the overly emotional little filly is left trembling, teary and twitching. Bardigan got shot, and it's all her fault. When FEatherfang vanishes like that, she sits there a moment, before she turns, quietly, and staggers off into a distant branching tunnel, by her lonesome.
( The flames finally recede, first the pillar of white, then the flames surrounding and inhabiting Twilight Sparkle. The energy slips back into the firestone, which glows like a magic eye. Twilight, her mane and tail looking a bit singed but otherwise physically not much the worse for wear. She collapses in exhaustion beside Bardigan...whose wound is merely superficial now, all but gone. )
Bardigan is as exhausted as the others, lying still and breathing gently as activity swirls around him, and the Dogs begin to pick up the pieces of their former conflict.
Clara is helping them do just that. Since the former Iron Eyes chief isn't here, she tries to identify which attacker is ranking, if they even ^have^ ranks in this backwards clan--she doesn't know all that much about them from gossip or studies. She also is trying to be a negotiating figure in her own right--and while her main objective at this point is not getting arrested or killed, she also retains hope of securing a small firestone, to which there are several possible avenues. She speaks to the Topaz leader. "As You caN seE, thIs cLan has been WhiPped into ranCor by the gRiffoN, who I think no LongeR holds SwAy over theM. It is pOssIble this Can be reSOlvEd peeAcefullLy." She glances toward Bardigan to get a quick sense of his condition, and is astonished when she sees the wound nearly gone, and the unicorn collapsed. She takes a hesitant step closer. "WhaT has HappeNed?"
Bardigan was never dead. But the wound is sealed, and the pegasus stirs again, at length. His wings twitch first, aching for open air. And his eyes flutter open, glancing around at the Dogs that mill about awkwardly. He lifts his head. "... Where's Diamond?" he whispers. "Did... did we win?" he asks the unicorn next to him, before exhaustion takes him again, and he drops back into a stupor. The Topaz leader sniffs at the air. "MuuCh lossS," he murmurs. "But WiInn weeE Didd," he says with a toothy grin to Clara. "Now, at last, we can TAlk.".