Descent (Gilda/Anon) - Part 2

>Running, through the caves of the underground, your arms and legs pumping.  The earth shudders and groans, sending you into a sprawling heap.  You untangle your limbs as you hear that deafening roar.
>The sensation of hot breath against your entire body, your nose fills with an overpowering musky presence you can’t place.  Moving to launch yourself forward, you feel it grab you and wrestle you to the ground with ease.
>Your head cracks against the ground and
>A kick to your stomach jerks you out of the nightmare.  Gilda stands over you, cocking an eyebrow and looking perturbed.  As you wheeze for air, she states her case.
>“Hey, No-Tail, let’s get going.  I want out of here.”
>Managing a small nod, you push yourself up from the cold stone floor you had spent the night sleeping on.  Light has begun to stream through one of the holes near the ceiling, illuminating the room just enough to see.
>As you thought, the ground didn’t do much to make you feel rested.  Your back is tight, and the arm you slept on is currently dangling rag-doll at your side.  The buzzing sensation is subsiding at least.
>You climb to your feet and decide how best to go about searching for an invisible, possibly nonexistent exit.
“Okay, first things first, lets take a look at the slats up there.”
>You point to the cuts in the ceiling on the eastern side of the room.  Sunlight streams through, marking the passage of time against the floor.  Gilda glances up and snorts, shaking her head.
>“Scuse me, do I look like some skinny mare here?  I’m a full grown griffon, there’s no way I can squeeze through any of those.”

>She poses, wings outstretched, giving you a smug grin.  She is larger than most of the ponies you’ve met, her body is thicker, more muscular, with a much wider wingspan.  Still, if she is stronger
“Well, why don’t we see if we can widen any of those cuts in the rock?  If this place is as old as everyone seems to believe it is, we might be able to create a wider opening so that you could fly out and get help.”
>“Now that sounds like a plan I could get behind!  What about you, tree squatter, while I’m up there, what are you going to be doing?”
“I’ll look around down here and see if there isn’t a hidden door cut into the rock.”
>Gilda nods and flaps her wings a few times before taking to the air.  Soon she is high above, inspecting the quality of the surrounding stone.  You move as well, searching the perimeter of the room with your eyes and your hands, seeking any cuts in the stone that might lead out of the room.
>
>Despite the fact that you have sunlight entering the room, without knowing how the timepiece is used, you can only tell that maybe half your day has passed.  Gilda, having finished her inspection, is squatting on the altar, watching as you make another pass along the wall, looking higher this time.
>“I guess you haven’t had any luck either.”
“Not yet, but I’m sure if we keep looking”
>“We’re going to die down here.”
>She has a bad habit of interrupting you, not all the time, but often enough for you to notice it.  Turning back to her, you notice her confident presence is much more subdued than usual, or rather, it’s being overpowered as she faces her mortality.

>Leaving the wall, you walk towards her, making sure to avoid tripping over any of the rubble knocked loose by yesterday’s cave in.
“It’s not that bad, Gilda, we still have friends outside this room, and it shouldn’t take them long to get to us.  Besides, I’m sure that there’s a way out of here besides the main entrance.”
>“All right, I’ll bite.  How exactly do you know that there’s another way out of here?”
“Um, well.”
>For a long moment, you stay silent.  You really have no way of knowing if there is another way out.  She grins a little at that and slugs you in the shoulder.
>“It’s fine.  Like you said, there’s still the others, and there’s no way that they would leave us here, not if they believed we were still alive.”
>You nod, still a little shaken at the realization that you have no idea on how to get out of this hole.  Sitting on the altar beside Gilda, you both stare at the exit.  Time creeps by, and you feel your griffon companion looking at you again.
>“Hey, I’m going to go back down the tunnel, see if I can’t make any headway from this side.  Maybe we’ll meet them in the middle.”
“Sounds like a pretty good idea.  I’ll come with you.”
>Gilda smirks and pushes herself off the carved rock, landing with a quiet thud before looking back at you.
>“No offense, but you’re just going to get in my way.  Remember how long it took you to get me out yesterday?  Just, stay down here and keep looking for that second way out.  Maybe the wall will tell you something?”
>She gives a teasing smile and flicks her tail feathers back at you as she walks off.

>The air seems colder now that you’re alone, stale and heavy with fear and uncertainty.  It takes a few minutes longer, but you’re on your feet again, walking over to the wall mural.
>Not that you hadn’t looked over the carvings before, Twilight had insisted you take a good hard look when she realized that they might be humans.  But you couldn’t make heads or tails of them.
>Walking back over to the wall, you begin the exceedingly frustrating task of trying to figure out what it says.  It may be your only way out.
>
>“Miss Sparkle?  Twilight?”
>Opening your eyes, you see a concerned unicorn standing over you.  Your body aches from hoof to horn, but seems focused in top of your head.  You groan and sit up, bringing your hoof to find the offender.
“W-what happened?”
>“There was an earthquake and you went headfirst into a wall.  You’ve been unconscious for the more than a day.”
“Ah, ouch.”
>You rub the tender bump on your forehead and take a look around.  The central cavern still seems to be in one piece, though several of the tunnels look like they have collapsed.
“Is everyone accounted for?”
>“All the ponies are accounted for; thankfully they were able to clear away any rubble, or blink back to the central cavern.  The benefits of a unicorn exploration team, I suppose.”
“Celestia will be glad to hear that.  What about the Griffon Delegation?”
>The unicorn’s reluctance is readily apparent.  You roll off the bed, making sure that you can stand on your own four hooves before placing your weight on them.  A momentary dizzy spell is the worst that you suffer.
“Please, I need to assess the situation.”
>“Delegate Gilda has gone missing.”

>You frown a little at the mention of her name.  Gilda was an unwelcome surprise when you arrived at the site, her attitude towards your friends was not something easily overlooked.  However, the griffon had stayed to herself for most of the dig.
“We should begin to clear the tunnels of rubble then.  The griffons are our hosts after all, and we should treat Gilda as much of a part of our team as she is theirs.”
>The unicorn nods, and begins to head out of the room.  Your thoughts turn back to Gilda.
>Despite her initial reluctance to interact with the exploration team, Gilda had been agreeable enough to follow orders when given.  She had even warmed up to Anonymous, asking him questions about Earth, following him from place to place, like a shadow.
>A cold chill seizes through your body, your flesh suddenly feeling two sizes too small.
“Excuse me, what about the human, Anonymous?”
>The unicorn stops, a few steps from the doorway.  That hesitant look comes on full force as he shuffles his hoof, avoiding eye contact.  He does answer, after a long pause.
>“The human, Anonymous, also has been reported missing.”
>’Actually there’s a third missing party.’
>Oh yeah?  Who’s that?
>’My cool.’
>You begin to hyperventilate, jerking your head to the left and right, as if Anon would show up in his usual manner.  That simple hand wave and ‘sup’.  No luck.
“What do you mean he’s missing?”
>“As… as in he’s not here?”
>You sigh, burying your face in your hooves.  Deep breaths, Twilight.
“Where are we in the search?”
>“Several tunnels collapsed during the cave in.  We’ve managed to open some of the shorter tunnels, but no sign of them yet.”

>You pull your hooves from your head and nod.
“Good.  We have to find hi- we have to find both of them.  How long would it take a griffon to get to Canterlot?”
>“A few days to make a round trip.”
>What a time for Spike to be at home, ugh!
“Then we don’t have time to waste, we must inform the Princess of our situation.  We need more bodies here as soon as possible.”
>The unicorn nods once, and heads out.  Feeling the weight of this new responsibility on your shoulders, you walk out to survey the damage to the city.  True to the report, even from your vantage point you can see several collapsed tunnels.  Griffon and unicorns are working side-by-side to clear them, moving at quite a clip, but with the amount of rubble and the number of tunnels to clear, it could be weeks before you find Anon and Gilda.
>They don’t have that kind of time.  If you knew which tunnel they were in, then you could rescue them before assistance arrived from Canterlot..  Closing your eyes, you grit your teeth and stop one of your hooves.
“Come on Twilight!  All you have to do is think it out.”
>The sounds of stone scraping against stone.  Ponies and griffons shouting to one another.  You struggle for a moment, but soon all the sounds fade in a background buzz.  Only you, and your thoughts.
>How could this happen?  You get proof positive of intelligent life from another world and he gets squished by a stray boulder.  Fillies and colts would learn about you in school as Twilight Sparkle, the biggest flop ever to come out of Canterlot.
“Calm down.  It, it’s not like their lives depend on this or anything.”

>Oh wait, they probably did.  Taking a breath to steady yourself, you go over what you know about this city, and Anonymous.
>The city itself is old, ancient in fact.  Most of the stone buildings have been reduced to rubble with the passage of time, leaving only the foundations.  A few walls remain standing, but they are brittle and likely to fall if you touch them.
>The tunnels lead to different districts, mostly residential and commercial.  There are a few locations where stone gives way to dirt, but nothing is built there.  From what Anonymous says about human death rituals, any remains will be found buried there.
>Speaking of remains, none have been found within the city.  While the bones may have simply vanished with time, it seems unusual to find no signs of life aside from the dilapidated structures.  It’s as if everyone decided to leave all at once.
>But, to simply disappear, with hardly a trace, that would require immense magical power.  Magic strong enough to leave a residue that would cover the area for years.
“That’s it.”
>A smile spreads across your face as you open your eyes.  That’s exactly where he is.
“In the altar room.”
>
>A slight wind whistling through the gaps in the stone causes you to shudder.  Your shirt is torn and full of holes from your various tumbles and exertions yesterday, unfortunate, since you really liked it.
>Last night was spectacularly uncomfortable.  The cold stone on your back, and the drop in temperature as the sun disappeared, you weren’t sure if the cold or dehydration would kill you first.

>That’s right, you had nothing.  No food, and more importantly, no water.  Only a few days until your paperwork went through to make you a permanent resident of the city of Dirt Nap.
>You grit your teeth as your head throbs.
“I’m getting myself worked up again.”
>You take a moment and push those thoughts to the side, turning back to the carvings.
>It was a monstrous undertaking, much larger than when you entered the room for the first time and Twilight pointed them out to you.  The carvings ran along the entire length of the wall, and stretched from the ground to your shoulders.  Some were worn with age but being underground had saved most of them, a history of an entire peoples.
>You weren’t sure what time it was, but you’d managed to cover maybe a quarter of the room.  What you had gathered so far was that these people took a distinct interest in buffalo.  From the repetition, the buffalo was an important part of their identity, a source of food, clothing, perhaps even a spiritual guide.
>A low, guttural growl slips out from your stomach to interrupt your train of thought.  You place a hand over it and become the nagging hunger that’s been eating away at you all day.
“Hurry, Twilight.”
>“No luck, huh?”
>Gilda pads up behind you as you shake your head.  Reaching out, you tap your finger on a few depictions of the animal.
“No, not yet.  About the only thing that I can figure is that they placed special emphasis on buffalo, or something similar to it.”
>“Maybe if we ask nicely, we can get a herd to stampede through the wall?”

>Falling back on her haunches, she smirks over at you and cocks her head to the side.  You manage a smile, but another sharp pain jerks through your head again, making it seem even more forced.
>Gilda doesn’t miss a step.
>“You know, if this isn’t going anywhere, you need to come help me with the tunnel.  Maybe we can get some real muscle built up on those branch-swingers of yours by the time we get out.”
>She flashes a grin, but you can see the fear building behind it.  She knows that escape is slim, she’s always known.  You suppose that you have too.  Sitting down beside her, you press your shoulder into hers.  Gilda jumps a little, but leans back against you after a moment.
“I don’t think we’d be that lucky.”
>The two of you lapse into silence, staring at the glyphs interspersed between the stony depictions of life.  Something about them tugs at the edge of your consciousness, but no matter how hard you look at them, it’s still impossible to read without knowing the language.  At last, you decide enough is enough.
“So, what’s your experience with buffalo?”
>“They’re big, strong, have a tendency to be short tempered, travel in herds and sit pretty low on the intelligent species list.”
>She’s resting her head on your chest at this point, and you see her eyes turn up to you.
“That’s a pretty poor explanation.”
>She ruffles her feathers a little, and the look turns to a scowl.  She continues ahead, regardless.
>“They don’t like interacting with outsiders, and everyone else is smart enough to stay away, in case the herd gets it into their mind to stampede.”
“It kind of sounds like you’ve never really met a buffalo.”

>“Well, duh, buffalo haven’t been on this side of the mountain range since before the ponies arrived.  They live on the plains now, easier to run on, and away from most predators.  Really, the only thing that buffalo have going for them is their magic.”
>That gets your attention.
“I thought only unicorns had magic?”
>Gilda looks up at you and laughs.  It’s a quiet sound, with an uplifting whistling tone at the end of it.  She shakes her head and grins.
>“Did you just drop out of the trees or what?  Lots of creatures exist here because of magic.  You didn’t really think that pegasi could fly with those tiny wings, did you?  They use magic to keep themselves aloft, otherwise they’d end up falling on their faces.  The buffalo are the same way.”
“That sounds nice on paper, but I don’t think you can really prove that a bunch of herd animals have access to magic.”
>“Listen, every so often, some griffons gets it into their heads to catch a buffalo, and every time the buffalo know as soon as they pick off one of the stragglers and come charging straight back.  They just, know, even if they’re headed the other way, they know to come back to help one of their own.  A griffon hasn’t tasted buffalo in ages.  Shame too, that hump of theirs looks, delectable.”
>She’s salivating a little, distracted by the thought of sinking her beak into a mess of buffalo hump.  Holding back a laugh, you glance back up at the wall, feeling a little better about your situation.  Not that it’s improved any, you’re not any closer to figuring out the secret of the wall, but at least Gilda makes the waiting a touch easier.

>Thin beams of orange light filter in through the cuts in the stone.  You’ve spent the entire day looking at this wall, and made very little progress.  Maybe Gilda’s right, and you should be more focused on digging your way out.
>Speaking of, she seems to have gotten very cozy, leaning up against you, resting her head on your shoulder now.  Giving her a few small nudges, she wakes as you push into an upright position and stand, heading for the collapsed tunnel.  She seems a little perturbed by your need to move.
>“Hey where are you going, chimp?”
“Gotta take a leak before it gets too dark to see, besides, I’d hate to get any fleas on you.”
>As you walk away, you hear her mutter something under her breath, but decide not to pay it much mind.  You walk as deep as you dare; the light is fading fast, plunging the tunnel into darkness, and unzip your pants.
>It doesn’t take more than a minute to relieve yourself, though you can’t help noticing a distinct shift in the hue of your urine, leaving it a deep, murky yellow.  A thought strikes you as you shake any stray drops loose.
>You don’t know how long you’ll be down here, maybe you should consider drinking your ow-
>You gag and visibly convulse, and nearly fall forward.  Using your hand to steady yourself against the wall, you rationalize the concept.  It was a foreign thought, rising unbidden from some part of your brain intent to survive this ordeal.  The will to survive and the need for civility are drawing battle lines, but you may be dead before one of them wins.  A shiver rolls down your spine as you glance down again.

>The darkness is creeping over your ankles now.  Averting your eyes from the ground, you turn and head back into the cavern to sleep and await rescue.
>
>The ground is cold again tonight.  Not that you were expecting much different, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.  Yesterday you had physical exhaustion to thank for inviting sleep, but tonight, you are awake and alert, aware for the first time how much of your work depends on light being present.
>The cavern looks different as the pale echoes of the moon peek through the cuts in the ceiling.  Shadows stir, crawling along the ground, ever present, but choosing to remain just out of sight.
>You close your eyes, telling yourself that it’s just your imagination.  That the stress of the situation is getting to you.  You open your eyes and the nagging fear is gone.  Until Gilda’s explanation of magic worms its way back into your head.
>You’re living in a world where the moving of celestial bodies is governed by two sister ponies.  Where the weather is made and directed by flying ponies.  A place where buffalo can talk to each other without moving their mouths, and mythological creatures like griffons exist and thrive.
>The shadows quiver again, your mind continuing to run with this new understanding of this place.  In a world governed by something as unfamiliar to you as magic, who’s to say that spirits can’t fill the shadows, after finding life in the necropolis wasn’t enough?  What if they decided to return to their homes, to prey on unfortunate souls who wandered through?

>Your body feels the touch before it lands.  You jerk to the side, crawling into the shadows as you give a strangled scream.  This is exactly what they wanted.
>“Woah there.  Chill out, I was just coming to see if you were okay.”
>Gilda is perched on the edge of the altar, tilting her head to the side as she peers into the darkness.  Despite your attempts to hide, you feel she can see you, and you shift a little to the left.  Sure enough, her eyes follow you, though she grins a little as she does.
“Jeez, Gilda!  Warn me next time you’re sneaking up on me!”
>Your heart begins to slow down as you walk back towards her, noting the smug smile on her beak.
>“But if I let you know I’m stalking you, it’s not really stalking, is it?”
“Whatever, what do you want?  Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
>“I would be, except for the twisting, turning, grunting, huffing, puffing and grumbling that you’ve been doing.”
“Was, was I really that loud?”
>She nods, that cocky grin never leaving her face.
“Sorry, it’s just this whole situation.  And then there’s the floor, the temperature, it’s just getting to be overwhelming.”
>“If you’re that uncomfortable, why don’t you come over and sleep with me?”
>The offer hangs in the air for an eternity.  You can feel that predatory gaze of hers over your body again, despite the fact that she never breaks eye contact with you.  Then, the moment is gone, and she shrugs a little, jumping off the altar and walking back to her side.
>“That’s a standing offer, monkey man.”
“But, why?”
>“Because, if we don’t get rescued we may as well be cozy with each other when the time comes.”

>She circles her portion of the altar once and lays down, curling just enough so that she is facing you.  She stares a moment longer and then closes her eyes.  You stand there for several minutes, before taking small, careful steps towards her.  Fifteen paces away, you realize she’s caught you.
>You freeze as you see one of her eyes is open, staring at you.  The seconds tick by, you feel your limbs get heavier as neither of you move.  Lungs burning, trying to release air, but every other part of you is screaming no.  The eye closes without incident and there is quiet rustling of feathers as she lifts one of her wings.
>Taking the few remaining steps forward, you settle down next to her, resting your shoulders and head against her side.  She makes a small sound before bringing her wing down, covering a good portion of your chest in the process.
>She’s warm, but with all that fur who wouldn’t be.  You hear the faint echoes of her heart as it pumps away, far faster than your own.  Her scent has mingled with the dust and grime of the underground, earthy, but still with a simple tang of down mixed in.
>Despite the strangeness of the situation, sleep finds you easily.  At least for a few hours.