Unknown Artifacts

        It is a foggy night in Equestria. Everypony is asleep in their nice comfy beds...well except for two ponies who are in the Everfree Forest. A teal unicorn stallion with a green mane is lighting up the path and is carrying a map of the everfree forest. A lavender pegasus mare with cyan mane is following right next to him.

“We are almost there Rushy,” the teal unicorn tells his companion.

“Good, nothings happened and I’m getting bored.” Rushy replies.

The unicorn sighs, “We don’t always have to run into trouble every time we go out on these expeditions.”

“But we usually do find trouble, Trapper.” Rushy deadpans.

“Well that’s because you always seem to get into every little fight we see.” Trapper rebukes her claim.

“It’s not my fault...” Rushy says, knowing he has a point.

“I know it is not your fault but you still instigate the fights to happen” He says, while still looking at the map.

“So ho-” Rushy starts, as six timberwolves jump out of the nearby bushes. Rushy then quickly gets up onto two hooves and takes a defensive stance.

“Can I just get one trip that doesn’t involve us getting attacked.” Trapper sighs and gets ready. He uses his magic to place magical traps around the perimeter. “Alright Rushy, traps are ready.”

“Alright...” Rushy replies before charging the closest wolf, ramming it into a tree. Rushy then turns to another one and throws it into one of Trapper’s traps. This trap set the timberwolf on fire and it starts to run around frantically. “Nice.” Rushy said taking a second to admire the trap, luring another wolf into an attack. Rushy whips her left hind hoof around in a roundhouse kick, breaking the timberwolf’s neck and killing it instantly.

A timber wolf starts to charge at Trapper. A small smirk appears on his face. “Nice try mutt.” The wolf sets of a trap that threw a set of magical knives into the timberwolf. Puncturing it full of holes.

“OVER HERE, TERMITE-CHOW!” Rush taunts the remaining two timberwolves, getting their attention and running towards one of the traps. As she approaches, she leaps forward and rolls, missing the trap and luring the wolves into it. The wolves run into a trap which send a boulder at them, knocking them into another trap which captured them into a net.

Trapper walks up to the two wolves with a smirk. He lit his horn and set the net ablaze, burning the two timberwolves to a crisp.

“Well that was fun 2 more and it might have been an issue...” Rushy said as she walks to the wolf that was unconscious against the tree she rammed it into. She grabs it’s neck and gives a quick twist, breaking the wolf’s neck. “What is that 3 for 3?”

“Yep” Trapper walks over to her. “It looks like we tied again.”

“Well considering how boring it was before, this was a nice change of pace. Shall we head continue?” Rushy asks, ready to move on.

“Yea we better go in.” Trapper got his things onto his back. “We don’t want to run into anymore timberwolves.” Trapper says, following behind Rushy. “or a manticore.” As they continued talking, they were at the abandoned castle

“Manticores aren’t as fast as timberwolves, and they’re dumber too.” Rushy remarked heading towards a large wooden door that smelled of rot. “Although, I can’t actually hurt them because they’re too big for hooves to actually do anything.”

“Well I can startle them with my traps but they won’t kill them unless I use a certain trap.” Trapper walks by the rotten door, ignoring the smell. “What about your staff?”

“If it was metal, not wood...” Rushy replies, entering the rotten door.

Trapper walks in the door as well, “Well what about your spear?” he asks

        “The tip isn’t strong enough, on a manticore it would be a one hit weapon...” Rushy states, walking down the entrance hall of the ruined castle.

“Well that is true.” Trapper walks by some of the pillars that were knocked down, old age evident from erosion damage. “They do have thick skin.

“Maybe if we designed a new spear or staff, but that isn’t likely...” Rushy deadpans, walking past a collapsed wall.

As they got deeper in the castle, the condition became worse as rubble is everywhere, flags are torn and faded, and the only light source was coming from Trapper’s magic.

“Well when we get paid for this find, I can create you a new weapon.” he tells her.

“Cool just make sure it isn’t made of WOOD...” Rushy deadpans, putting lots of emphasis on the word “wood”.

“Well I will make you a metal one but remember,” Trapper informs Rushy, “Metal is expensive and rare to find so if we don’t have enough for it then we have to use wood.”

“Wish I left the spear and staff... they’re rubbing my back and making me itchy.” Rushy complains, reaching for offending equipment and chucking them out a window, “Whoops.”

Trapper facehoofs at what Rushy did, “Rushy...why did you bring your weapons if you weren’t going to use them and ‘Accidentally’ toss them out the window.”

“Maybe it wasn’t an accident...” Rushy states smugly, a large grin plastered on her face.

Trapper groans, “Sometimes I wonder how I live with you.”

“Because without me, you can’t go treasure hunting?” Rushy asks innocently, her grin still going strong.

Trapper just groans as the duo keeps walking further and further into the abandoned castle. As the duo walk, the castle walls get thicker and thicker in moss due to the intense humidity, until they reach the far end of the castle, finding half of a large double door. They move through the door and into a large ante-chamber, the walls and ceiling covered in moss and vines. In the center of the room is a raised platform with a shrine upon it.

“I think we found something...” Rushy points out, focusing her attention upon the shrine.

Trapper takes one last look at the map and puts it away. “Yep we’re here, the inner shrine.” He confirms.

“So shall we go claim our prize?” Rushy says as she approaches the shrine.

“Well what else did we come here for... the fresh air?” He rhetorically asks and trails behind his companion up the shrine.

As they approach the shrine, the artifact starts to glow and they see an aura form around the pedestal they are standing on.

“What’s going on?” They both frantically say in unison.

Suddenly, the artifact blasts Trapper and Rushy with a blue beam of magic and sends them across the room. Rushy manages to do a roll and begins running  towards Trapper, who was blasted across the room and hitting the wall.

“Ow!” he cringes in pain.”That really hurts”

“You okay?” Rushy asks, just as she arrives by his side, “Are you hurt? Can you move?”

“Yea...” he gets up slowly, slightly moaning in pain. “I think I...” Then the room starts to shake violently. The pillars start to crumble and the floor begins to crack. Then the room becomes still.

“That was anticlimactic...” Rushy states sarcastically, but before she finishes the floor explodes in debris. As the dust settles, all that can be seen is a large multi-headed shadow that just radiates trouble.

Trapper’s mouth is agape when he sees the beast. “We’re screwed.”

“RUN!” Rushy says, just as the beast roars loud enough to shake the very foundations of the castle they’re in. The colorful ponies turn tail as they gallop back to the entrance as quickly as they can, the hulking mass of death only seconds behind. Fleeing down the halls, before Rushy took flight with Trapper in hoof. Denying there panicked escape, The pillars started crashing down behind them, and on one occasion, almost hitting Rushy.

Trapper is looking over the map frantically to find an exit. “Rushy! We need to get out of here and my traps won’t work on a beast that big!”

“I know that and I believe it’s called a hydra,” Rushy sarcastically states, flying as fast as she can with Trapper in her hooves. “Now start giving me some directions so we don’t die.”

“Alright” Trapper takes a look at the map. “Make a left here.” He points to his left.

Rushy takes the left, “any turns up ahead I need to take?” she asks as she tries to fly faster.

“Nope just continue going straight and then make the next right.” He keeps giving her directions.

“Great no turns means he is gaining on us now...” Rushy says as they approach freedom, the ceiling crumbling above them and pillars getting closer and closer to them.

“I think this place is crumbling!” Trapper yells over the loud noise of the crumbling roof.

“I don’t think WE can make it,” Rushy says as she closes in on the door, putting a lot of emphasis on the word “we”.

“We have to make it!” Trapper tries to reassures Rushy and himself, “I know you can make it!”

“No, you can make it...” Rushy states as she throws Trapper out the door.

“Wait...what?!?!” Trapper says as he lands harshly on the ground outside of the castle. He gets up and turns around. “What are you doing!?” He questions Rushy’s motives.

“SAVING ONE OF US!” Rushy yells as she rushes towards the hydra, punching it in the eye before the castle collapses.

“RUSHY!” Trapper screams out her name, as the castle falls apart and just leaves a giant pile of rubble in it’s place.

Trapper runs over to the pile of rubble and starts screaming her name. “Rushy!” Trapper keeps looking everywhere for any signs of his companion. “Rushy!” He keeps this up for about another fifteen minutes and notices a bloody lavender hoof jutting out of a pile of pillars.

“No...” He starts to tear up at seeing the bloody hoof. He starts to clear the rubble off of Rushy. “She can’t die...she can’t die.” He keeps searching as more tears start to fall from his face.

After clearing the rubble, he sees Rushy’s bloody body, all torn up and full of scratches. One of her wings were torn off and bleeding profusely. She was missing a right rear hoof as well. There was a pool of blood pooling around her body from her’s and the hydra.

Trapper grabs her and cradles her in his hooves. A stream of tears are falling down onto Rushy’s face. “No Rushy...we were best friends...brother and sister. You were the only friend that I ever had after my family adopted you.” He keeps crying and a headache starts to form in his head. “RUSHY!” He yells her name, as his voice echos into the forest as he just collapses over her body and cries over the lose of his adoptive sister.