//------------------------------//
// Chapter Three: Duel 
// Story: Over the Mountain 
// by Boltstrike58 
//------------------------------//

Gilda led the two ponies through the caves of Mount Gale, guided by a weak light spell Sunburst maintained. The trio had agreed that it was too risky to bring a lantern, considering the chance that they might run into Grapple, and they didn't want to alert him to their presence. They were steadily making their way towards the mountain center, where the Spear was most likely to be hidden.  

"So," Sunburst began, turning his head to Daring, "what made you decide to look for the Spear? Aren't you usually chasing after pony artifacts?"

"Yeah," Daring Do admitted, "it's not exactly my forte, which is probably why it took me so long to track down. Anyway, the real reason is...well, Equestria's changing, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that creatures other than ponies are coming to Equestria more and more. It all started with Princess Twilight's School of Friendship. Ever since she proved that ponies and other species are essentially the same, once you get down to it, those other nations have been sending their citizens over like crazy. And they've got undiscovered magical artifacts, too, so I mostly figured it was up to me to get with the times."

Sunburst shrugged. He supposed that made sense. Nopony wanted everypony else to think they only cared about pony affairs, unless they were some stuffy old 'traditionalist' like Neighsay had been. Especially considering how many species had been involved in saving Equestria from Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.

"Plus, if I kept going, I'd just run outta pony artifacts," Daring laughed. "And I have no intention of retiring."

Daring and Sunburst shared a small laugh, but froze in their tracks, as Gilda held up a talon to stop them. Sunburst blinked in surprise at where they were. It appeared to be just a normal rock wall, with nothing to distinguish it from the surrounding area.

"Um, why have we stopped?" he asked.

"We've reached the mountain center, and...something's not right here," responded the griffon, eyeing the wall suspiciously.

Daring trotted up next to her. "What're you talking about?" she asked. "There's nothing—" Then her eyes focused on a particular spot. "Oh...Oh! That's not normal."

His confusion only growing, Sunburst trotted up next to them, staring at the wall, until he discovered what Gilda's eagle eyes and Daring's trained gaze had settled on. There was a small hole in the wall, but inside, there wasn't the expected black hole of nothingness one would expect, but a flat, grey surface that looked almost neatly polished. There was a circular indent surrounding the grey, but nothing else was visible.

"What is it?" he asked, feeling he might already know the answer.

"If my years of adventuring have taught me anything," Daring replied, reaching forward with one hoof. She pressed down on the grey, which sank inwards as she did so. Somewhere behind the wall, there was a small click.

A loud shudder suddenly ran through the cavern, and the trio immediately backed away from the wall, nervous. From the switch Daring had pressed, a group of small cracks began to spiderweb outwards, climbing up with wall with frightening speed. Daring winced slightly as the cracking continued, until the entire visible surface was one giant crack.

With a sudden burst, the cracked brown wall shattered, falling free from the wall and revealing what lay underneath. The rest of the wall was the same color as the button, formed out of pressed brick, with the only thing marring the surface being a giant statue of a griffon's head, with both claws coming up on either side of it, and it's massive beak shut tight.

"Okay," Sunburst mumbled. "I think it's safe to say we found it."

"Yeah," replied Daring Do. "The only question is how do we get inside?"

"There's gotta be someway to get inside," said Gilda, running her claw over the surface of the griffon statue. "Grimm wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of setting this up if he didn't want any griffon to get the Spear."

"You'd be surprised. So many relics I've found have been hidden behind puzzles they thought no creature would ever manage to get past."

Sunburst ran his hoof over the edge of the griffon statue, trying to find anything abnormal. "There doesn't appear to be any opening mechanisms," he commented, dryly,."I don't suppose either of you know how to get through it?"

Gilda opened her beak to answer, but before she could, a low, thunderous hum reverberated throughout the cavern. The eyes on the griffon statue lit up, a brilliant blue color, and the statue actually spoke.

"What. Is. Best?" came the rumbling voice, shaking the cave and causing bits of dust and stone to drop from the ceiling. Sunburst actually flinched, before composing himself for the sake of his image. Luckily, neither of the others seemed to notice.

"Uh, what's he talking about?" asked Daring. "What is best? That's pretty vague."

"No, no, I know this," said Gilda. "It was something that Grandpa Gruff used to say. King Grimm, in life, always claimed that what was best in life was 'To crush your enemies, to reap the rewards, and to feel the thrill of victory.'"

Apparently, she'd said the right thing, because the statue's eyes began to glow again, only this time the light was colored deep, bright gold. There was a thunderous crack, so loud that the trio all slammed their forelimbs over their ears. Another low rumble preceded the lower beak of the statue beginning to slide down into the earth, slowly revealing what lay beyond the wall, inside the griffon's mouth.

The room inside was formed out of solid gold (or, at least it looked like gold). It was a simple, cone-shaped room, with a high roof, and a short staircase leading up to a throne. On top of that throne was a spear, formed out of a shimmering grey metal, with a simple arrowhead tip. Inscribed on the spear were strange runes Sunburst had never seen before, but he had little doubt as to their purpose.

"Sweet Celestia, I think we did it!" exclaimed Gilda, practically jumping up and down from sheer excitement.  

"Great," said Daring. "Then let's grab that thing and get outta here before—"

She never got to finish, as a clenched fist clocked her on the back of the head mid-sentence. Sunburst met a similar fate, having his sensitive horn grabbed, and his head forcefully shoved into the dirt. Gilda, hearing their cries of pain, spun around on one paw, but Grapple was too fast, leaping over her and stomping on her head with his back feet in the process. Gilda's beak stabbed into the soft earth as she fell forward, Grapple flying over her.

Daring and Sunburst managed to get to their hooves, but they couldn't hope to catch the speeding griffon. Sunburst, desperate, fired a magical beam, but Grapple simply flew over it. The scarred griffon zipped across the small chamber, seizing the Spear of Grimm with one claw and holding it high above his head. The weapon sparked to life, waves of blue magic pulsing up and down the shaft, and electrical bolts zapping outwards from the head.  

"At last..." Grapple laughed, "...it's MINE!" He spun the spear in one claw, cackling with demented glee, before stabbing its blunt end deep onto the floor. A tremendous bolt of pure magic thundered from the spearhead, blasting a hole clear through the mountain, exposing the cavern to a small amount of daylight.

Daring Do blinked in sheer shock. "Tell me you saw that," she mumbled.

"I felt that," Sunburst replied.

Grapple continued to laugh, twirling the spear between his talons. "Hm. Lighter than I expected," he commented, "but I suppose it doesn't matter." He faced down his trio of opponents. "Honestly, after all the trouble you went to to find this for me, I ain't even mad that you're still alive, pony." He pointed the spear at Sunburst with malicious joy in his eyes. "That's a problem I can correct right now."

"That doesn't belong to you!" shrieked Gilda, spreading her wings and flying towards Grapple, baring her talons. Grapple merely tutted, and swung the Spear in an arc, sending out a shock wave of pure magic that slammed into Gilda, knocking her out of the air and sending her flying backwards, where she nearly crashed into the ponies. Sunburst managed to telekinetically catch her just before she did.

"Honestly, I'm not even sure whether it's worth the effort to finish you three off," Grapple pondered. "I mean, conquering the griffon kingdom with this baby will be a snap!"

Meanwhile, Daring and Sunburst managed to help Gilda back onto all fours. "Are you alright?" Sunburst tentatively asked.

"Kinda," grunted the griffon. "Man, that hurt. I think I can still fight, though."

"Okay," Daring laid out. "So worst case scenario has come to pass." She turned to Sunburst. "Please tell me you came up with a plan for this."

Sunburst looked at Grapple, who was too busy playing with his new toy to pay them any attention. "Well, there is one spell that should do it. Even with the Spear, I don't think there's anything that he could do to counter it."

"I sense a 'but' coming on."

"You two will have to distract him while I power up the spell."

Gilda shrugged. "That sounds possible—"

"For five minutes. And considering exactly how much power is inside that thing...well, just do your best."

Daring groaned. "What did I do to deserve this?!"

Nonetheless, she spread her wings, Gilda doing the same. Sunburst bent down, charging the magic in his horn, orange energy racing up and down the cone-shaped appendage. Gilda and Daring took off, flying towards Grapple, who finally ended his grandstanding and took notice of his opposition.

"Like the griffon said," Daring shouted, zooming towards Grapple, "that ain't yours! It belongs in a museum!"

"Oh, that's just precious," Grapple cackled, raising the Spear once again. Another massive blast erupted forth from the tip, but this time, Gilda and Daring were ready, and they darted to the sides, allowing the magic to pass harmlessly between them. Not put off, Grapple fired more blasts, putting more holes in the mountain.

Meanwhile, Sunburst was making good on his word, building up the necessary magic that would be needed to cast the spell. At the same time, his brain was working at full blast trying to work through the formula of the spell, arranging it so that it would work exactly as he wanted it to. Otherwise, it could have no effect, or blow up in his face.

"Okay, just gotta take the Artifact Empowerment Spell, then reduce its power by seventeen percent...remember to invert the Limbo Vortex..." he muttered to himself, barely managing to keep his concentration above the chaotic clatter as Grapple continued to blast.

The scarred griffon in question was growing frustrated. Daring and Gilda were zooming through the air around him, never coming together so he had a chance to take them both out at once. He'd tried sending out another shock wave, but it was thin, meaning they could avoid it by going over or under it.  

As he launched another blast at Gilda, Daring saw her opportunity. Turning in midair, she dived towards Grapple's turned back, attempting to ram him and hopefully knock the Spear out of his grip. She did manage to land the blow, but Grapple maintained his hold on the Spear. Pinning him down, Daring started punching the back of his head, trying to knock him unconscious. Gilda rushed to her aid, reaching for the Spear with one claw.

Grapple, having had it with them, screamed in fury as he gripped the Spear, causing the runic lines on it to glow with power. A dome-shaped burst of energy blossomed outwards from the Spear, hitting both Daring and Gilda, sending them flying backwards into the walls. Getting up, Grapple pointed the Spear at each of them, launching horseshoe-shape projectiles that slammed into them, pinning them against the wall. Both struggled, but they were held fast.

Grapple, his victory seemingly assured, howled with laughter. "Did you really think you could take me?!" he demanded. "When I've got the Spear of Grimm on my side?! All your efforts were for nothing!"

"Oh, they weren't meaningless," came Sunburst's voice. Grapple turned in the direction it emanated from, finding the unicorn standing there with a smirk on his face, his horn shining white with power. "They bought me all the time I needed."

Grapple raised the Spear, but it was already too late. Sunburst bent his head and fired, sending a massive beam of pure magic towards Grapple. The griffon held the Spear lengthwise to try and block the attack, but the magic simply latched onto it. White energy lines crept up along the shaft of the weapon, and it vibrated in Grapple's claws. A small black hole appeared in the air, and a trail of white energy snaked out of the tip of the Spear, flowing into the hole as the spell did its work. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, and it was all over.

Grapple stood, holding the Spear, a look of horror beginning to grow on his face. "What did you do?" he demanded. "What did you do?!"

Sunburst smiled. "I released the magic of the Spear and sent it into another dimension," he laughed. "You're holding an ordinary spear."

Grapple's beak dropped, and then he sputtered as his brain tried to process this new information. He weakly pointed the Spear at Sunburst, but, as expected, no blast of magic came out of the weapon. That was enough for Gilda, who flew down and clocked him on the back of the head, knocking him out and sending the Spear flying out of his grip. Daring Do snagged the weapon before it could hit the ground, a satisfied smirk on her face.  

"Well," she said, holding the Spear with one hoof. "I guess that went about as well as it could've." She held the Spear out to Gilda. "You should have this. Put it in a museum."

"Thanks," said the griffon, taking the weapon. "Kind of a shame we had to depower it, but it's probably for the best. We could never display this thing in public if it could still destroy whole armies."

Sunburst smiled with content. Even without the faint pulse from his Cutie Mark, he knew he'd accomplished the mission the Tree of Harmony had sent him on. Now to go home and sleep it off.