Chapter 4: Entering The Cave
The train pulled into the station and the group of nine got off and walked onto the station platform. They were getting extremely excited about the treasures that they could find during this journey. Even Twilight Sparkle was having a very hard time at hiding her enthusiasm. They checked the map and quickly headed off towards the mountain. It didn't take long before it came into view.
The mountain was a huge towering landscape. It dominated the scene before the nine friends. They couldn't help but be in awe of such a place existing. One thing was certain: they were thankful that they didn't have to climb it. The huge mountain was still a pretty good distance away. Wasting no time, the group of nine started their trek towards the intimidating hill and the treasures it held.
Meanwhile a group of ponies and griffons stood at the entrance of a cave at the mountain's base. A griffon, two pegasi, and an alicorn stood in front of them. The others were in four rows of ten and they faced the foursome with firm looks on their faces.
"They could be here at anytime." Grayback said to his troops. "You all know what you have to do right?"
"Sir yes sir!" was the reply.
"Do what you must to defeat them." Grayback continued. "But make sure they're alive. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir yes sir!" the group of forty responded again.
"Good now get into your positions." Grayback said as he turned and entered the cave. He was followed in by the two pegasi as well as the alicorn that had stood next to him. The group of four made their way into the cavern and they quickly disappeared from view. The group of forty took up their positions in hiding. They would take the group of nine by surprise and hopefully subdue them quickly. All of them got excited at the riches they would have should they be successful with their assault.
Twilight Sparkle held the map as she and her friends walked to the mountain. Everypony in the group was excitedly discussing the treasures and what they'd do with the bits that they were worth.
"I'm gonna get a way cooler house." Lightning Dust said. "That three room shack just doesn't fit my style."
"Well I'm gonna spend my bits to build a training area." Rainbow Dash replied. "Gotta keep myself in shape if I'm ever gonna be a Wonderbolt."
"Ah can't think of much Ah'd use the money for." Applejack said with a shrug. "What about you Gilda?"
"Normally I'd treat myself to a nice steak but I can't find any in Ponyville." the griffon replied. "But that salmon you gave me was delicious. You're a life saver Fluttershy."
"Oh it's no problem Gilda." Fluttershy responded. "Salmon die when they spawn so waste not want not."
"I'm gonna use all my bits to make the most super duper delicious cupcakes in the whole wide world of Equestria." Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "Then I'm gonna share them with all my friends."
"I would never dream of selling such treasures." Rarity said. "They would make for excellent accessories for some of my latest designs."
Spike meanwhile stayed silent. He knew that the cave was full of treasure. However there was only one treasure that he was searching for. Spike wanted The Amulet of Hearts. He felt like that would be his best chance of finally having Rarity's love. A smile grew on the face of the purple dragon as he imagined himself giving Rarity that gem. He started having a daydream about what would happen afterwards.
"I hope you like it Rarity." Spike said as he held out the golden necklace with the heart shaped gem.
"Oh Spike." Rarity said with a gasp. "It's beautiful. I love it."
She quickly put the necklace on and admired it.
"It's the most beautiful thing in the world." Rarity declared.
"I can think of one thing that's even more beautiful." Spike replied.
"And what would that be?" Rarity asked.
"You." Spike replied.
"Oh Spike." Rarity said as her eyes began to water from the compliment.
"I love you Rarity." Spike said.
"I love you too Spike." Rarity replied as the heart shaped gem changed its color from clear to a bright emerald green. This sudden change signified that Rarity's love for Spike was really true.
The two lovers inched closer and closer together. Spike's heart was pounding. This was it. He was about to kiss the mare of his dreams. After all this time, it would finally happen. The two lovers were just millimeters apart when Spike's fantasy was suddenly interrupted by a confused voice.
"Uh Spike why are you making out with that rock?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Spike's eyes opened and widened as he saw that he was kissing not Rarity, but a stone that was lying on the ground. Spike quickly dropped the rock and spat in disgust. His friends gave him questioning looks but he ignored them. He did not want to discuss what had just happened. The group of nine got closer to the mountain. The massive landscape grew bigger and bigger the closer they got. The nine friends from Ponyville were stunned at how gigantic the mountain truly was. This only made them even more thankful that they weren't going to be climbing it. Finally they saw the cave that the map was pointing to.
"There it is." Twilight Sparkle said.
"All right!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Time to get some treasure!"
The rainbow maned pegasus zoomed off with Gilda and Lightning Dust right behind her. The remaining six shook their heads and followed the trio. The three fliers stopped right in front of the entrance and waited for their six friends. Soon enough the other six joined them and they looked at the cave. Just before they could enter a blast of magic shot right towards them. The bolt of magic narrowly missed Gilda and the group of nine looked towards where it had come from.
Out of the bushes a group of forty emerged. Twenty earth ponies, twelve pegasi, four unicorns, and four griffons all stood and glared at the group of nine. A pegasus that looked like the leader stepped forwards. He had a dark blue body with an orange mane and tail. He wore a dark black shirt and pants which covered his cutie mark. His light green eyes narrowed in suspicion as he spoke.
"And just where do ya think you're going?" he asked in a very threatening tone. "You weren't thinking of stealing our treasure were ya?"
"Your treasure?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.
"I think you mean our treasure." Gilda corrected.
"We're not letting ya anywhere near it." Lightning Dust growled.
"Especially after you attacked us." Twilight Sparkle added angrily.
"Boss' orders." the pegasus replied. "You can either bail out now or me and my boys will make sure you won't get that treasure. Isn't that right guys?"
"Sir yes sir!" the others shouted. The pegasus grinned at the group of nine.
"So four to one fight." he said arrogantly. "Think you can take us?"
The group of nine glanced at each other and nodded. Rainbow Dash flew straight towards the pegasus and attacked. The battle began and it was brutal. Gilda was forced to fight all four of the griffons at once. Talented though she was, this would not be an easy task for her to accomplish. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity dueled against two unicorns, an earth pony, and a pegasus each. Meanwhile Lightning Dust and Fluttershy had four pegasi each on them. Soon three more pegasi joined the fight against Rainbow Dash. Applejack dueled against the remaining two pegasi as well as two more earth ponies. The remaining twelve earth ponies divided themselves equally among Pinkie Pie and Spike. Thankfully the young dragon had thought to bring his necklace with him. He quickly transformed into Hum Drum and then turned into his armored form. Two of the earth ponies broke off their fight with Pinkie Pie and instead focused on Spike.
Twilight Sparkle used her magic to counter the spells of the unicorns she faced. Trixie had taught her more than just illusions. She had taught her combative magic and also helped Twilight Sparkle develop a sense of unpredictability. This helped the alicorn defeat her attackers. The two unicorns were easily bested and the pegasus and earth pony didn't do much better.
Rarity meanwhile had used a much different approach. Her horn glowed but instead of attacking her enemies, she used her magic to add to her beauty. This caused quite a distraction for her opponents. They were so busy ogling her that they didn't notice her horn glowing again. Rarity quickly defeated the foursome and did what she could to help her friends with their battles.
Gilda, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and Fluttershy had taken to the air with their enemies. Each of them had been able to bring down one opponent each before they had risen into the sky. Then the foursome flew in haphazard paths while their enemies followed them. One of the griffons chasing Gilda crashed into one of Rainbow Dash's pursuers. This then led to the duo taking out two more pegasi. The foursome separated and their attackers did the same. Gilda made short work of the remaining two griffons and they crashed to the ground. Lightning Dust knocked one pegasus out of the air and then hurled the last one towards Fluttershy's attackers. The two pegasi collided and now Fluttershy only had one more enemy to deal with. She quickly punched him in the face and he spiraled towards the ground and barely missed two of Spike's opponents. Rainbow Dash quickly beat one of the two pegasi and she continued her fight with the leader of the army.
Applejack meanwhile was fighting against the earth ponies on the ground while the two pegasi tried to dive-bomb her. After dodging their attacks for a while, Applejack managed to grab hold of one of the pegasi. She quickly hurled him towards his flying companion and the duo crashed to the ground. One of the earth ponies tried to attack Applejack from behind but she was ready for this. Her hind legs which had been strengthened from years of hard work quickly knocked the offending earth pony unconscious. The remaining earth pony was quickly defeated and Applejack tried to help Pinkie Pie with her battle.
Pinkie Pie meanwhile was outrunning her enemies. Even without her Fili-second costume the pink pony was still very fast. The four earth ponies soon ran out of breath and they just collapsed of exhaustion. Pinkie Pie giggled and kept on running. It was like she didn't even know she was in a battle. Then again she probably didn't.
Spike was using his powers to his advantage. The magical beams from his crystal sword took out two earth ponies effortlessly. Another earth pony tried to tackle him but got smacked in the face by Spike's shield. The fourth earth pony was then punched right in the gut. Spike's armor also gave him a boost in strength so his punch was now a lot more threatening. The remaining four earth ponies tried to tackle Spike all at once. However Spike pressed the yellow gem on his boots and he escaped them. He then used his speed to his advantage and quickly took down two more of his enemies. The remaining two earth ponies tried to tackle Spike but they ended up crashing into each other and falling to the ground. Finally only one more enemy remained.
Rainbow Dash fought against the leader of the group. This pegasus was far more skilled than the others had been. He effortlessly dodged all of the rainbow maned pegasus' attacks.
"You're not gonna beat me." he said with a laugh. "Why don't you just give up?"
"Maybe 'cause your army just got trashed?" Rainbow Dash responded.
The pegasus looked down and his jaw dropped. All thirty nine of his troops were laying on the ground defeated.
"This can't be." he whispered.
'Yep." Rainbow Dash replied. "And now you're about to join 'em."
With that, she quickly gave the stunned pegasus a punch to the face and he crashed down to the ground. Rainbow Dash landed lightly and glanced at her eight friends. All of them had made it through unscathed. The group of nine entered the cave and set off in search of the treasure. The leader pegasus shook his head. He pulled out a small object and spoke into it.
"Boss." he said. "We failed. They're inside the cave."
Immediately after that he finally fell unconscious.
Grayback had heard this statement and he growled in displeasure. His lieutenant had failed him so now he and his three teammates would have to take care of the group of nine by themselves.
"Is everything set up?" he asked.
"The trap is set perfectly." Monochrome replied.
"They're gonna walk right into it." Psyke said in excitement.
"Excellent." Grayback replied. "Chunker you stay here and make sure they don't follow us. If they escape do whatever you can to take them down."
"You got it boss." Chunker said in response.
Grayback walked deeper into the cave with Psyke and Monochrome following behind him. The three of them walked onwards and looked for the treasure. The muscular pony hid herself and waited for the trap to be set off.
