Adventures in Equestria IC.

[Mystic Muse]

All of a sudden, the party hears a very loud scream from somewhere inside the cave. It's a male voice, and whoever it is, they sound like they're in pain.

[Lycan 01]

Cue dramatically heroic theme music as Godwyn immediately springs into action. Ignoring his discomfort, the Paladin grabs his lance up from the grass, flaps his wings, and zips off into the cave to go be a hero, consequences be damned.

[Deme]

Foxglove clicks her tongue to call Tweedle, mounts him, and rides after...Assuming the cave entrance is big enough. If not, she and Tweedle with both run into the cave after Godwyn. Not helping someone isn't what Foxglove's here for, after all.

[Benson]

Gearstride blinked. She'll just assume them Godwyn got a splinter or something then to explain why he was in pain.

"Godwyn! Your splinter!" She yelled after him in a moment of silliness. She laughed.

"I suppose we should go after him so he doesn't get himself more splinters."

[Mystic Muse]

After a couple rounds of running, they begin to see a fair amount of light up ahead.

As they go closer, the area it's coming from brightens, leading to a rather wide room filled to the brim with all sorts of undead in various states of decay, and a rather worried and frantic looking mare, giving out orders to each of them, and apparently conducting some sort of battle plan, judging by the way things are set up.

A fair number of the undead seem to be leaving into a deeper portion of the cave, eventually leaving a pony skeleton clad in really nice looking armor, a dragon skeleton that's clearly too big to fit deeper into the cave (Dragon is huge size, cave opening is not), what looks to be some sort of demonic skeleton thing, and What looks to be a wurm skeleton.

The mare now seems to be talking to herself, though it's not really possible to hear what she's saying from the distance you're at. She's a black mare with a snow white mane and tail, and she would look significantly better if she weren't so stressed about something. It looks like on the far wall there is some sort of odd, ancient mural with writing nearby, though it's illegible from this distance.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn mentally sighs several times.

First when he sees that there is indeed a dragon skeleton, plus other big baddies. The second mental sigh is when he realizes that the mare is scared, and sending her underlings to take care of a different threat than them. The third? When he sees that the mare is attractive.

Gear is going to be all over that.

Godwyn takes a moment to fish the enchanted ring from his backpack, and slip it into his left palm, clenching it between his claws and the handle of his shield. He resumes holding the lance, but keeps lowered rather than braced for charging. "What's the plan?" he quietly whispers to the others. "Do we charge in and introduce ourselves nonviolently? Or do we send a scout or two ahead to see what the situation is, before regrouping and going from there? Time may be of the essence, considering how panicked she looks..."

[Mystic Muse]

Another cry of pain comes from deeper in the caves, definitely from the same being, and Godwyn notices it sounds unsettlingly familiar...

"AGH!" The necromancer yells.

[Deme]

Foxglove was not sure what to do. On the one hoof, it'd be a bad idea to split up *and* talk to her, since there were guys who did not look nice here.

On the other hoof, she did want to try and talk to the mare peacefully and help if she could.

On the other other hoof, she wanted to see what that screaming person was about, since that was why they all charged in.

"...I'm lucky I'm a quadraped, but I need something to do with that last hoof..."

She whispered.

"...Uhhh...But....Well, I don't want to just nab her without talking to her...But that persons's still hurting, and she's still nervous and maybe she's nervous about us...So I dunno. We could try talking to her...If you guys think we could handle it if it goes wrong again."

But how often do we have a conversation that doesn't end in warnings and/or death threats and/or violence?

[Hawkflight]

Heartflight growled in annoyance as there was a scream, and Godwyn charged in before she could have her character development moment respond. She followed the others in.

Godwyn mentally sighs several times.

First when he sees that there is indeed a dragon skeleton, plus other big baddies. The second mental sigh is when he realizes that the mare is scared, and sending her underlings to take care of a different threat than them. The third? When he sees that the mare is attractive.

Gear is going to be all over that.

Godwyn takes a moment to fish the enchanted ring from his backpack, and slip it into his left palm, clenching it between his claws and the handle of his shield. He resumes holding the lance, but keeps lowered rather than braced for charging. "What's the plan?" he quietly whispers to the others. "Do we charge in and introduce ourselves nonviolently? Or do we send a scout or two ahead to see what the situation is, before regrouping and going from there? Time may be of the essence, considering how panicked she looks..."

"Do you really think she's up for the non-violent route, considering her obvious state of mind?" Heart deadpanned. Sure, when it came to ponies, she preferred not fighting them, because usually things were more complicated than they seemed. In this case, however, it didn't look like that was an option.

Another cry of pain comes from deeper in the caves, definitely from the same being, and Godwyn notices it sounds unsettlingly familiar...

"AGH!" The necromancer yells.

"....I vote we charge in recklessly without considering the consequences because that scream sounds bad."

With that, she flew in the direction of the scream, heedless of any foes in her way.

Spoiler

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Do I need to Tumble? I think I need to Tumble.

Perform (Weapon Drill): (1d20+25)[37]

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn's right eye begins to twitch violently as he recognizes the male voice.

"I think we need to-"

And then Heart flies off.

"Not do that, since this is probably a trap," the Paladin deadpans. "HEARTFLIGHT!! STOP!!" he yells, leaping up to fly after her. "SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT!!" There's no doubt their cover is blown now, but he can't just let her fly off into what is almost certainly a trap or trick. Especially if the visions in his head are any reflection of what may actually lie ahead.

If Heart stops in the tunnel, Godwyn will quickly have a word with her. If Heart doesn't stop, Godwyn will not follow her all the way into the depths of the cave, instead skidding to a halt in mid-air once he reaches the cavern with the necromancer.

[Hawkflight]

Heartflight ignored Godwyn's call, too focused on finding the pony who had screamed in pain.

[Mystic Muse]

Godwyn's right eye begins to twitch violently as he recognizes the male voice.

"I think we need to-"

And then Heart flies off.

"Not do that, since this is probably a trap," the Paladin deadpans. "HEARTFLIGHT!! STOP!!" he yells, leaping up to fly after her. "SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT!!" There's no doubt their cover is blown now, but he can't just let her fly off into what is almost certainly a trap or trick. Especially if the visions in his head are any reflection of what may actually lie ahead.

If Heart stops in the tunnel, Godwyn will quickly have a word with her. If Heart doesn't stop, Godwyn will not follow her all the way into the depths of the cave, instead skidding to a halt in mid-air once he reaches the cavern with the necromancer.

Heart flies right by the Necromancer and her undead, all of them too surprised to do anything even if they wanted to. The Necromancer then turns to see Godwyn, and the rest of the troop.

"I don't know who you are, but either help me, or stay out of the way."

Heartflight ignored Godwyn's call, too focused on finding the pony who had screamed in pain.

Heartflight comes to a room filled to the brim with undead attacking somepony, but whoever was screaming in pain is nowhere to be found.

The pony Heart sees looks...wrong. She is too tall, too thin, and ponies aren't supposed to have teeth that a shark would be jealous of. Her hooves look like they end in claws or spikes, and she looks like she has metal plates attached to her somehow. She also seems to be grinning and laughing with each undead she essentially obliterates.

Oh yeah. Besides Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis, and Cadence, there also aren't supposed to be other Alicorns. The pony has a dark blue body, platinum blonde mane and tail, and her cutie mark has an Earth Pony's hoof stomping the ground, a unicorn horn mid-spell, and a pair of Pegasus wings mid-flight.

Other features of the room include a damaged statue of Discord, and the far wall looking like it's made entirely of Silver.

There mare notices Heartflight entering...and just goes back to destroying undead effortlessly, still grinning and smiling. The undead now attacking her are clearly a very small fraction of what there used to be, since the floor is covered in bones.

[Hawkflight]

Heartflight froze, staring at the scene in surprise. "Okay, what the BUCK is going on here?!"

[Benson]

Gear herself skidded to a halt as she came upon the room Godwyn was it, with this necropony. Oh my, she was kinda cute, if she cleaned herself up and did something about those bags under her eyes.

"Heya baby," She said in an attempted suave manner. "Help you what exactly? We heard screaming, we just happened to be nearby. What's going on here exactly?"

[Deme]

Foxglove came out behind the rest, looking around. She didn't like undead; at least, not unintelligent undead. Something moving without a real heart...It felt odd to her. Still, if the pony wasn't going to treat them as her enemy, that was encouraging.

She nodded when Gearstride was done, and added on,
"...I-I think we'd like to help you...But we'd want to know more first...Since we don't really know what we'd be helping with."

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn opens his beak to say something, but then Gearstride speaks up and jumps straight to flirting. The griffin shuts his beak, and his shoulders slump as he hovers in mid-air. "You know what? I'm just going to let Gearstride handle this. I have greater issues to deal with right now, anyway..."

And with that, he flies off to find Heartflight and make sure she's not being deathmurdered.

[Mystic Muse]

Gear herself skidded to a halt as she came upon the room Godwyn was it, with this necropony. Oh my, she was kinda cute, if she cleaned herself up and did something about those bags under her eyes.

"Heya baby," She said in an attempted suave manner. "Help you what exactly? We heard screaming, we just happened to be nearby. What's going on here exactly?"

"An insane mare is currently in the process of trying to kill somebody, and I'm trying to stop her, but my undead aren't doing ANYTHING."

Foxglove came out behind the rest, looking around. She didn't like undead; at least, not unintelligent undead. Something moving without a real heart...It felt odd to her. Still, if the pony wasn't going to treat them as her enemy, that was encouraging.

She nodded when Gearstride was done, and added on,
"...I-I think we'd like to help you...But we'd want to know more first...Since we don't really know what we'd be helping with."

"An insane fanatical mare is trying to kill somebody who doesn't deserve it. I don't care what somebody has done Nobody deserves to die." the mare says.

Godwyn opens his beak to say something, but then Gearstride speaks up and jumps straight to flirting. The griffin shuts his beak, and his shoulders slump as he hovers in mid-air. "You know what? I'm just going to let Gearstride handle this. I have greater issues to deal with right now, anyway..."

And with that, he flies off to find Heartflight and make sure she's not being deathmurdered.

He comes upon the scene just described a few posts ago, sans a few more undead.

"Iiiiinteresting. I didn't expect you of all people to be here at this time. You always did have a tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time though." She says, talking to Godwyn, who has no ******* clue what she's talking about, because he's never seen this person before in his life.

Heartflight froze, staring at the scene in surprise. "Okay, what the BUCK is going on here?!"

"Is it not obvious? I am destroying the rather incompetent undead that have been sent after me." She kicks an undead and it literally disintegrates.

[Hawkflight]

"An insane mare is currently in the process of trying to kill somebody, and I'm trying to stop her, but my undead aren't doing ANYTHING."




"An insane fanatical mare is trying to kill somebody who doesn't deserve it. I don't care what somebody has done Nobody deserves to die." the mare says.



He comes upon the scene just described a few posts ago, sans a few more undead.

"Iiiiinteresting. I didn't expect you of all people to be here at this time. You always did have a tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time though." She says, talking to Godwyn, who has no ******* clue what she's talking about, because he's never seen this person before in his life.



"Is it not obvious? I am destroying the rather incompetent undead that have been sent after me." She kicks an undead and it literally disintegrates.

"....Um, okay, why?" Heart asked. "Um, bigger scale here."

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn skids to a halt in mid-air once again as he enters the cavern with the thing. The thing from the visions. It's here. And it's talking to him. Talking about him. And oh look, Discord is here too!

Godwyn's right eye twitches again.

The Paladin then does what he can to banish his pains and fears from his mind. He raises his lance and braces it for combat, while also hefting his shield. "Who are you?" he growls. His eyes begin to glow with an ethereal blue glow, as he peers beyond the physical realm to look into the very soul of the alicorn-thing in front of him, trying to read the aura of her morality.

And he gets nothing.

From her, at least. While the alicorn-thing registers a complete and utter lack of moral alignment, the silver wall nearby does. And it's breathing.

The glow flickers from his eyes, replaced by a look of sheer confusion and concern. "What? Why.... Heartflight! Stay away from that wall! It's alive, and it's evil!" he snarls to his companion, before returning his attention to the alicorn-thing. "Alright, what is this?! How do you know me, and what are you doing here?" he calls out authoritatively, trying to keep suppress a faint tremor of fear into his voice.

Motes of silvery blue energy begin to materialize and float around the tip of the lance. The glowing particles begin to multiple and spread, drifting along the length of the weapon. As they journey down the lance, the weapon begins to smoulder and glow in their wake. Godwyn hasn't noticed it yet, but... it looks like his weapon is starting to catch on fire.

Spoiler

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Move action: Detect Evil
Standard Action: Divine Bond (Lance is Flaming for 6 minutes)

[Mystic Muse]

The Paladin then does what he can to banish his pains and fears from his mind. He raises his lance and braces it for combat, while also hefting his shield. "Who are you?" he growls. His eyes begin to glow with an ethereal blue glow, as he peers beyond the physical realm to look into the very soul of the alicorn-thing in front of him, trying to read the aura of her morality.

And he gets nothing.

The mare just smiles wider and...disappears.


He then hears her speaking right next to his ear. "I am the word that spoke and light was made. I've walked across the sun. I've seen events so tiny and so fast they hardly can be said to have occurred at all, but you... you are a Griffin... and this world's strongest Griffin means no more to me than does its strongest termite."

The glow flickers from his eyes, replaced by a look of sheer confusion and concern. "What? Why.... Heartflight! Stay away from that wall! It's alive, and it's evil!" he snarls to his companion, before returning his attention to the alicorn-thing. "Alright, what is this?! How do you know me, and what are you doing here?" he calls out authoritatively, trying to keep suppress a faint tremor of fear into his voice.

"Are you afraid little Paladin? I assure you, you're not nearly frightened enough. As for what I'm doing here, well, I thought that became entirely obvious when you saw the vision after healing the bitch who destroyed my golem."

Godwyn

Spoiler

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He then hears in his mind "I was there and knew you the minute you were born. I will be there and still know you the minute you die."

The crazy mare is now right behind the Paladin.

[Hawkflight]

"Are you afraid little Paladin? I assure you, you're not nearly frightened enough. As for what I'm doing here, well, I thought that became entirely obvious when you saw the vision after healing the bitch who destroyed my golem."

Godwyn

Spoiler

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He then hears in his mind "I was there and knew you the minute you were born. I will be there and still know you the minute you die."

The crazy mare is now right behind the Paladin.

"Hey! Wanna make something of it, mount?!" Heart demanded.

[Deme]

"...They went towards her, didn't they?"

Foxglove asked...But she didn't exactly wait for an answer. Tweedle went before her. And Foxglove...

Someone -- someponies, and a griffon -- had called her a friend. They had invited her to go somewhere. She...Had been invited to go somewhere. And made jokes over a cup of tea and had lunch and frightened small children.

This maybe qualified as the second most amazing thing to happen to her, ever. And she'd not let it end here, no matter how little who she was might matter.

Someone -- someones, were hurting, and she knew that too. And nothing she was could stand for that.

She stalked down the tunnels with a purpose, mumbing the words of a spell as she went, and at last touching Tweedle with her horn. When she approached the cavern where the others were, all the worries and half-forgotten songs and hesitation seemed gone, and the pony who stood where the tunnel met the cavern...was open as a flower and immobile as a stone, her eyes wide and still and a little bit mad.

Certainly to the alicorn in the cave, such a mare was nothing...But Foxglove often did things by not knowing they could not be done, often was everything by not understanding she was nothing.

Spoiler

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Magic Fang on Tweedle.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn closes his eyes, and exhales deeply.

"I am but a humble griffin, yes. More specifically, I am Godwyn Blacktalon, Paladin of Icarus. You claim you know me, from birth to death? That all my existence is laid bare before you? Perhaps. If that is the case, though, then you already know-"

The lance is fully wreathed in flames now, burning with a silvery-blue light. Those same motes and specks of glowing energy are now flickering and materializing around Godwyn himself. An aura of light begins to form around the Paladin, and the white patches of his plumage begin to shine and give off a glow of their own. In fact, between the flaming lance and the glow around and from Godwyn himself, it would seem the Paladin is becoming more than just a metaphorical light in the darkness.

"Whatever my fears may be, I will not falter nor shall I flee. As long as you intend to commit acts of evil and inflict suffering upon others, I shall stand against you. Be you mare, monster, demon, or something in between, I shall stand. Unbroken and unbowed, until my very last breath."

He suddenly opens one amber-hued eye to cast a sidelong glance at his pegasus ally. "Also, Heartflight? Please stop do not insult the big scary alicorn. It will likely only make a bad situation much worse," he flatly deadpans.

Spoiler

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Full Action: Total Defense
Free Action: Aura of Beneficence

Godwyn is now a glorified nightlight.

[Benson]

"Who is this crazy mare anyway?" Gearstride asked in a rushed tone of voice. Darn it all that friends were endanger....but....just a little....bit....more....info...before......gaaah. ..running......off!

[Mystic Muse]

"Who is this crazy mare anyway?" Gearstride asked in a rushed tone of voice. Darn it all that friends were endanger....but....just a little....bit....more....info...before......gaaah. ..running......off!

Silent Night pauses for a moment, trying to think of the best way to say this, but decides that there's no time for hiding the truth or any point in it.

"She's the mare who raised me, and I don't know why, but she's gone completely, fanatically, murderously insane" Silent Night says, looking like she feels completely helpless.

Once Gear sees the crazy mare....yeah, there are no features to compliment, not even for Gear. She is, in all senses of the word, inside and outside, skin-deep and straight to the bone, absolutely hideous.

[Benson]

"Ewww....well....I...think I actually feel the antithesis of being turned on," Gearstride commented as she, afterward, joined everyone else at the other part of the cavern after hearing what that other mare had to say.

[Mystic Muse]

"Hey! Wanna make something of it, mount?!" Heart demanded.

The freaky alicorn turns her head to heart, tilts it a little, and continues to smile.

All of a sudden, Hearts wings are bound, she's hoofcuffed, and she's gagged. (No, this is not DM Fiat, Heart failed her second reflex save.)

"Ewww....well....I...think I actually feel the antithesis of being turned on," Gearstride commented as she, afterward, joined everyone else at the other part of the cavern after hearing what that other mare had to say.

"I'm glad to hear it." The alicorn says, letting loose a really creepy laugh. Think MissingNo. from Linkara's stuff.

Godwyn closes his eyes, and exhales deeply.

"I am but a humble griffin, yes. More specifically, I am Godwyn Blacktalon, Paladin of Icarus. You claim you know me, from birth to death? That all my existence is laid bare before you? Perhaps. If that is the case, though, then you already know-"

The lance is fully wreathed in flames now, burning with a silvery-blue light. Those same motes and specks of glowing energy are now flickering and materializing around Godwyn himself. An aura of light begins to form around the Paladin, and the white patches of his plumage begin to shine and give off a glow of their own. In fact, between the flaming lance and the glow around and from Godwyn himself, it would seem the Paladin is becoming more than just a metaphorical light in the darkness.

"Whatever my fears may be, I will not falter nor shall I flee. As long as you intend to commit acts of evil and inflict suffering upon others, I shall stand against you. Be you mare, monster, demon, or something in between, I shall stand. Unbroken and unbowed, until my very last breath."

"A Paladin of Icarus you say? Interesting. You know, there's a lot of false information about your god. I wonder how much of the truth you actually know. Have you ever wondered who the people were he would associate with? How and why he disappeared? Maybe where he is now? she asks, her grin widening. "I could answer all of those questions for you."

He suddenly opens one amber-hued eye to cast a sidelong glance at his pegasus ally. "Also, Heartflight? Please stop do not insult the big scary alicorn. It will likely only make a bad situation much worse," he flatly deadpans.

"Good idea, Godwyn." The alicorn says, and teleports back over to the statue. "I don't plan on hurting her, but really, if you're going to call somepony a mount, you should expect that to happen."

Spoiler

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Full Action: Total Defense
Free Action: Aura of Beneficence

Godwyn is now a glorified nightlight.

"Oooo~ a glorified Nightlight. What are you going to do next, pull a rabbit out of your hat? Maybe make something disappear? Oh well, I'm bored already, so let's play a game. You get ten 'yes or no' questions. I'll answer any question you ask, as long as it's a yes or no question. The first time you ask a question that isn't a yes or no question, you don't get any more."

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn looks over to the bound and gagged Heartflight. "Not the worst thing that could have happened..." he muses. He doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to free her, likely for her own good.

Turning his attention back to the demon-alicorn-thing, the glowing Paladin frowns slightly. "You know, it's never a good sign when your antagonists dangle cryptic information over your head and then want to 'play a little game' with you. But it doesn't look like we have much choice, so fine, I'll bite."

Godwyn coughs to clear his throat. "Alright. Is there any possible way we can work all this out with diplomacy and come to a peaceful solution?" he asks, cracking a wry smile. You can't blame a guy for trying.

[Mystic Muse]

Godwyn coughs to clear his throat. "Alright. Is there any possible way we can work all this out with diplomacy and come to a peaceful solution?" he asks, cracking a wry smile. You can't blame a guy for trying.

"No." Is all she says. "Fitting, that you would try to save one who has fallen so far. You are a Paladin, through and through. I have to admire that, I must say." CrazyMcEvilpants says.

[Hawkflight]

The freaky alicorn turns her head to heart, tilts it a little, and continues to smile.

All of a sudden, Hearts wings are bound, she's hoofcuffed, and she's gagged. (No, this is not DM Fiat, Heart failed her second reflex save.)

Heartflight growled, struggling against the binds. She reared up, raised a hoof, and struck the hoofcuffs binding her.

Spoiler

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Mountain Hammer Strike on the hoofcuffs.

(1d20+14)[25]
(1d20+14)[34]

(5d6+11)[24]