CHAPTER 7

Hello again, readers. I was able to get this one written and posted, but not as early as I thought I would. More terrible news I won't bother you all with. The only reason I got this written today at all is that for most of the day, I chose to write instead of think. Thinking is dangerous for me now. Whatevs...to the fic; As the action builds, I hope that all of you who are following this story are finding it a good read. Enjoy chapter seven.

The Sombra cult consisted of a dozen ponies, from my count nine stallions and three mares. They were all dressed in gray hooded cloaks with red trim, and the only thing I could think of at the moment was how stereotypical it was that they were performing a ritual to bring about the return of a great evil being, all while wearing hooded robes. I watched from my position behind a stalagmite as they formed a circle around an altar made of black crystal, chanting a low rhythmic incantation. I turned and signaled the others to join me.

"What's up?" Dashie asked, moving up beside me.

"They're doin' their thing alright..." I said. "When they bring out the horn, we'll go in." I glanced back to make sure my sister was behind me and within earshot. "Soon as they pull that thing out, we'll hit 'em hard." I heard silent snickering from behind me. "What?"

"You know how bad that sounded, bub?" Budder whispered.

"Ugh...get your head in the game, angel..." I sighed. "We gotta go kick some major butt in a couple minutes."

"I know." She whispered back defensively. "And I'm ready, okay?"

"Alright." I said back. "Like I was saying, when they bring out Sombra's horn, we're gonna go out there, and start a brawl. Daring's gonna use the chaos to swoop in and grab the horn. Then, we disable or evade the rest of these guys and get the horn back to the city, and then to Celestia so she can destroy it."

"'Kay Drake. You know we're with you." Dashie said dutifully.

"I know that, guys." I replied. "And I know you'll be careful, right? Don't make me lose you...I mean it." I felt both of them press their heads into my shoulders.

"We won't." Budder whispered. I smiled a little, enjoying the moment before the storm. It soon came. I saw one of the stallions, no doubt the leader judging by his more ornate red robe, pull a large wooden box from a crevice in the wall, and carry it to the altar. He sat the box down, slowly opened it, and withdrew a strange object. At first, I didn't realize that it was what we were waiting for. It didn't look like a normal unicorn horn, cylindrical and segmented. This appendage was long and curved, almost like a blade. The busts of Sombra were accurate, the despot really did have an unusual horn. He was a very strange pony...

"Drake...what is it?" Dash asked.

"Oh, I'm thinking about framing up a door in my study and turning the upstairs bathroom into a Jack-and-Jill." I replied.

"The heck?" My marefriend shot back. I turned and gave her a sly grin.

"You guys ready?" I asked.

"Yep." They answered. I peered up to a ledge above the gathering, where Daring Do watched the scene unfolding, waiting to play her part. I saw her looking intently at me, and from behind the crystal pillar, I gave her a silent hoof signal that we were beginning. Okay Drake...time to do it live. I took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the stalagmite, and walked toward the ponies conducting their little ritual with a friendly smile on my face.

"Hey, how are ya?" I greeted cheerfully. The ponies all turned to stare at me in surprise. "Sorry, I think I took a wrong turn at Applequerque...um...can you give me directions to Kick-your-ass-town?"

"He is here to stop the ritual!" The leader of the Sombra worshipers exclaimed.

"Aww, how'd ya guess?" I said smartly. The two cloaked stallions nearest to me charged, drawing wavy-bladed daggers as they came. I pulled my saber, scoring a drawing cut on one of them, and blocking the others attack by parrying his knife with my sword. At this moment, Dash and Budder came charging out of hiding, weapons drawn.

"Stop them! Kill them all!" The leader screamed frantically. I locked eyes with the stallion I had blocked, then in one move, thrust my saber into him before turning back to the fray. As I took on another stallion, Budder spun around and bucked one of the stallions hard in the face, then skillfully bear maced another as she rushed my sister. Dash easily took on another one of the mares, cutting the robed pony's wrist, disarming her of her dagger before bucking her against the wall, knocking her unconscious.

"Daring!" I shouted. The crack of a whip sounded as Daring Do hooked a stalactite. She swung down from her perch on the narrow ledge, toward the ringleader of the pack, who still had the horn of Sombra in hoof.

"I'll take that." She stated nonchalantly, snatching the horn as she swung past. The stallion let out a roar, and threw back his hood, revealing an angry red unicorn with an already-charging horn.

"Daring, look out!" I called as she landed on another ledge. She freed her whip and looked down just in time for the bolt of energy from the unicorn to hit the crystal beneath her, causing Daring to fall. I dove for the adventurer, and at least managed to cushion her fall, at the expense of cracking a few ribs and bloodying my muzzle. The horn fell from her hooves and skittered across the floor of the cave, and the unicorn made a dive for it. I saw Rainbow Dash leap behind a stalagmite as a burst of another unicorn's magic hit the ground where she'd been standing. We were losing against the unicorns in the group, and had nothing to fight them with. We had to get out in a hurry. I dove on top of the unicorn's back as he reached for the horn, and gave him a couple of disorienting blows to the back of the head with my right hoof. I slid forward and grabbed the horn, jumped to my hooves, and made for the tunnel at the end of the cavern.

"Come on! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" I yelled. Dash, Daring and my sister all galloped after me as a few more bolts of energy shot past us. We were soon racing down the cave system, attempting to elude our pursuers and find a way out of the labyrinth.

"Wait!" Daring called in alarm. We stopped, and I turned to see what was wrong. She pointed up to where a large pile of boulders was suspended above us by a rickety-looking platform. With my eyes, I followed the wire that ran from the rocks, down the wall to a metal eye-hook, and across the tunnel about knee-high.

"Damn..." I gasped. "Thanks for spottin' that, Daring."

"Thanks for the save back there." She nodded.

"Hold on." I said as I suddenly got a brilliant idea. I took some rope from my saddlebag, placing Sombra's horn in with the journal page, and quickly and gingerly tied the cordage to the tripwire. "Alright...over the wire, and be careful." The three mares carefully stepped over the booby trap, and I followed, letting out rope as I went. When we were all clear of any danger, I gave the rope a sharp tug, sending the boulders and dirt crashing down into the tunnel behind us.

"Good idea." Daring commented. "They won't be able to follow now."

"That's the plan..." I replied. "Might buy us some time to figure out where we are, and how to get out of this damned place." I looked around. "These cave systems can run for miles, and I don't want to spend any more time than I have to down here."

"Me either..." Budder sighed.

"At least we got the horn." I said, patting my saddlebag triumphantly. I suddenly got a sharp pain in my head, and had to back against the wall as I started to feel dizzy.

"Drake?!" Dash cried, moving quickly to my side. The pain wasn't like a regular migraine that I got on occasion. This was a sharp pain that felt almost like it started at the back of my skull, and bored into my brain itself.

"Bubby, you okay?!" My sister exclaimed. The dizziness and the pain faded, and I shook my head.

"Yeah...don't know what the Hell that was." I answered. "Got a little headache there..." They stared at me a moment, obviously concerned about my well-being. "I'm alright. Let's get out of here, huh?" We started to walk down the dim corridor of crystal, and I paused.

"Meus es vas..." I heard a voice whisper.

"What?" I asked. The three stopped and turned to me.

"Huh?" Dash asked.

"Did one of you just say something...about moose?" I queried.

"Nnnnooooo..." My marefriend replied. Budder and Daring nodded their heads to the negative.

"Hearin' things..." I muttered, and took the lead.

Didn't turn out as long as I had planned it, but good nonetheless, right? Drake's team has the horn now, but does that mean it's over? What was with Drake's headache? Will they manage to get out of the cave? Hopefully, I will be able to get the next chapter done by tomorrow. Hopefully. Hopefully, I can get this STORY done. If for some reason I cannot finish this story and the rest, they will be finished by a proxy. I hope to present you with a new chapter soon though, I really do. Till then, thank you all so much for reading, and for being a part of Drake's life.