To Tartarus and Back [Sign-Up]

[LunarDusk]

Taking care not to get separated again Virtuous clung onto Shadow as the others had prepared to set off.

[annosrules]

"Once we clear the woods we'll be leaving the area where the royal guard do regular patrols. Things will get more dangerous from there," the guide announces to the group. His finishing action before taking off was bucking the cart and laughing the Pegasus off of it.

[Irroro]

The Pegasus backflipped through the air after getting bucked off the cart, 'till he opened his wings wide to stop himself, mid-air. He growled at the earth pony, giving him his hardest glare yet, before he hovered to the ground, following the cart and muttering, "Swear. If you weren't our guide..."

[LunarDusk]

"[glow=black,2,300]You'd slay him?[/glow] " Virtuous finished

[Peace Keeper]

Hmm?

Shadow heard Virtuous something about slaying and gives a puzzled face.

What you mean by slay him?

[Aqua Fire]

Illusion landed, getting tired of flying. She took a few grapes from her sattlebag, and ate them.

[Melancholia]

Melancholy felt guilty about her little outburst at Honest. She cringed as she thought of what her mother would say and decided to stretch her wings and clear her head. She secured her saddlebags and with one strong beat of her wings, she was in the air and flying a bit ahead of the rest of the group, not wanting to go to far lest she find herself lost in the forest.

Blazing yellow eyes scoured the trees and her ears flicked at every sound of their surroundings, from the morning birds singing, to the soft buzz of the bees around patches of wildflowers. She had to admit, the view from the air was breathtaking and she thanked her innate curiosity for urging her to the surface.

She glanced down at the group and chuckled softly; they really were a ragtag group and she hoped their combined skills, no matter how odd, could save this beautiful world she was growing to love.

"Hey! Um how exactly are we going to get these creatures back to Tartarus? I mean... I assume they'll be pretty tough..." She called down to them all.

It was then, as she looked at the group, that her keen eye caught the unmistakable blue glow coming from Illusions bag... it would seem they were in the vicinity of one of the escaped prisoners...

[Aqua Fire]

(Actually, the rune is in her saddlebag, but it's glow is illuminating out of it.)
"Also, what are we looking for, exactly? We aren't just going to attack every strange creature that we could me across and guess there from Tarturus. Even some dragons could be a prisoner!" Illusion added.

[Peace Keeper]

Would be good to have a wanted list for things like this. My guess we either tie them up or knock them unconscious and haul their booty back to their cages. I like the second approach in my opinion.

[annosrules]

The guide rolls his head and eyes at the chatter about capturing the prisoners. Though, after he does so, a sudden burst of surprise and fear overtakes him as he asks, "what ate diamond dogs doing out here!?"

Then, just as he had finished his sentence, three mounds of dirt erupted from the ground as their creators burst forth to attack the group. All three of them are of brutish physique, displaying large amounts of muscle in addition to their larger-than-pony height.

Wasting no time, Blazing Legend shoots forward, taking advantage of the forward opening created by the dogs only attacking from the sides, and apparently narrowly missing a fourth dog that burrowed from the ground to fill that hole.

[Aqua Fire]

As soon as the dogs appeared, Illusion quickly shot fireballs at them. She looked at the rune, thinking that's what there after, and closed the sattlebag tight.

[LunarDusk]

Standing in the rear, Virtuous whispered a few words that he was chanting with his eyes shut. Soon after a giant armored fist was summoned in the air  above one of the diamond dogs. In about 5 seconds he swung his hoof downward and simultaneously the fist crashed directly into the ground above on of the dogs sending a shock-wave of blue colored flames from the impact.

[Irroro]

Honest, on the other hoof, launched into the air as soon as he sensed trouble, and he was looking down towards where Blazing was, blazing through the diamond dogs like some super-pony warrior as Honest just hovered there in there air not too far above them, staring down at the encounter under his silver helmet, seemingly just observing.

[annosrules]

A couple of the diamond dogs scampered back into their holes from the fires being flung around, and some of the local shrubbery begins to smolder where it wasn't scorched from existence.

Meanwhile, more diamond dogs appear up the road in pursuit of the guide and his cart, a few diving back into their holes for another go while the remaining either pursue on foot or wait to stall the other ponies. Blazing seems clairvoyant when it comes to the dogs, as his movements and narrow misses with dogs would indicate him knowing where they were under the ground.

[Peace Keeper]

Shadow comes behind to try to help the guide with a couple dogs. He jumps on one of them clogging by the neck in a sleeper hold. He knows the dog will have back-up and looks at one more coming good way.

Y'all are big muscles. Lets see if there is any brain in you.

Putting one diamond dog into a state of unconscious.sleep he confronts the other dog, seeing him wildly flailing fists or paws and dodging them with little effort.

Guess not.

Shadow sees another punch and grabs it. He tosses the dog with a judo toss on top of another dog who happened to be running at Shadow at the same time.

[Space Ace]

Aurora quickly raised a bubble-shield around the cart. It seemed that the diamond dogs were after their supplies, and on such a mission there was no way she was going to let them just take what could save their lives later. She then turned back to the battle, as it had become, and watched to see where she could jump in- if she was needed.

[Aqua Fire]

Illusion saw some of the dogs were heading towards the cart.
"Oh no ya don't." Illusion said, as she flew towards the cart, protecting it. She scratched some of them, which only made them angrier. She had an idea, but decided to wait until she absolutely needed to.

[annosrules]

As the party draws closer to the guide and his cart, the dogs begin to pile up, no longer needing to spread their forces to catch everyone. "Stop them, before they get away with it," one if them calls out, pointing towards the cart.

Blaze seems to be fully concentrated in his running, paying the other ponies no heed. However, those who would look at his face will see that he he running and dodging with his eyes closed.

[Peace Keeper]

Shadow alerts to everyone.

New plan. Let's just get out the forest. Can't have them take our equipment.

He comes to run to aid Blazing once again, with the dogs following and making a jump. Shadow gives shoulder tackles to bump them away from the cart. He isn't sure where they are running and decides to come up to Blaze. He realizes something in his face and rewrites his initial question.

How can you run without seeing? Do you even know where you are going?

[annosrules]

"Be Quiet, I'm concen-" the guide begins to say before being so rudely interrupted by a clawed hand grabbing his ankle from below. "Gah!" he ends with, falling to the ground as he is being pulled into the hole. The rest of the diamond dogs now begin to catch up with the stopped cart.