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// Chapter 16: Lies Beget More Lies 
// Story: Caverns & Cutie Marks: Our House Now 
// by TheColtTrio 
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    “Why did I have to come all the way out here to learn that page duplication spell?” the mare asked, her voice muffled by her heavy scarf.
    “Because if the spell fails, it can wipe out an entire city block,” Light Patch casually replied, following the feeling of the artifact to try and position the two of them over it. He missed the skeptical look on her face.
    “For a simple matter-duplication spell? That sounds like a bit much.”
    “Yeah, about that... I may have sort of lied about that. My magic works a little like Pinkie Pie and a little like Discord. I just sort of think of what I want and it sometimes happens. Other times I get unexpected results, like a sudden rubber duck or something. I actually offered the spell as a little extra incentive.”
Moon Dancer frowned. “I hope the artifact hunt you mentioned is worth this, then.”    
“Look, I’ll see if I can maybe teach you the spell somehow… Maybe there’s some kinda pottery scene way I can...” Light Patch’s muttering trailed off as he looked at his hooves. “How would that scene work in Equestrian cinema?”
    Moon Dancer watched the pegasus mutter to himself for a couple of minutes, before the need to wipe her nose prompted her to goad the stallion back into their current focus. “Look, just walk me through what we’re looking for, and why you decided to hijack a perfectly good afternoon for staying inside and reading to come out to... here.” She looked around quickly. “The sooner you do that, the sooner I can tell you exactly which spell to use to do it, and we can both go someplace not covered in a layer of frostbite and disdain.”
Light Patch looked up from his hooves and shook his head. “Right. Sorry, I don’t need a spell so much as a well-read hoof. I found the Orb of Glacious... Mostly. I need some pony to lead the team to dig it up, because trying to just teleport it might turn it on, and the last thing I want is to wipe out every living thing in some unspecified range.”
    Moon Dancer snorted, then saw the serious look on the pegasus’ face.“Sorry, that was rude,” she said quickly, before looking at the stallion again. “You think you found the Orb of Glacious? The one sealed away by General Winter? Centuries before the princesses? Before even Discord? The one ponies have been searching for since the day it was lost without success?” She watched as the grey pegasus nodded. “And you just… what? Tripped over it while on your morning trot through the desolate winter desert, millions of miles away from Canterlot?”
    “General Winter, huh? kinda fitting honestly. And no, I didn’t exactly trip over it. Turns out Jogging Gates actually had gotten a good location, just slightly off. I used magic to find a more solid location.”
    “And I’m sure you want it strictly for altruistic purposes.” Moon Dancer gathered magic around her horn as she got into a stance that, according to the books, would ready one for battle. “Tell me straight: am I being ponynapped right now? Does this end with me being used to dig out a magical artifact of incredible power, which will then be used to conquer-slash-destroy Equestria by a villain?” Moon Dancer looked Light Patch over. “‘Because I’m not a pushover. I’ve read many books on magic duels and combat.”
    “I am wounded. Wounded, I say. Your words have struck right to my bones. And no, you’re not being ponynapped. Twilight read about this and did some of her own research, and realized how close Jogging Gates got to it. She decided to have some pony dig it up quietly since the Princesses seemed to just be fine with leaving it for any Sombra or Chrysalis to dig up.” Light Patch paused, looking to check for any others around them. “Did Twilight ever mention that little RPG she played with Discord?”
    Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow. “Caverns and Cutie Marks? She’s mentioned it before.” She paused as she looked him over. “Are you Wits End? I thought you’d be a lot shorter.”
    “He is. I’m Light Patch, the funny but incompetant pegasus sidekick,” Light Patch said, shifting his wings under the cloak he’d fashioned for himself to protect from the cold. “She trusted me enough to deal with this.”
    Moon Dancer seemed to be weighing his words carefully. “I guess that makes sense… If anypony associated with Twilight went after the Orb, they’d have spies and bandits all over them like termites in an early renaissance library. But, they wouldn’t be looking for a complete no-pony...” She paused for a moment. “No offence. Why didn’t she contact me to let me know?”
    Light Patch shrugged nonchalantly, while his mind whirled about to come up with something. “I guess she got a little worked up over this and I was the nearest pony. Maybe she didn’t want to interrupt your own studies? I'm sure you both know how each other are there.”
    “Maybe.” Moon Dance tapped the ground with a forehoof. “Or she knew that contacting me would put me on the map for other ponies looking for the Orb.” Her gaze narrowed. “Or you’re just using your friendship with Twilight to get my help.” Another moment of silence passed. “Are you sure you know where the Orb is?”
    “I think I have a pretty good idea where the Orb is, but not how deep.” A soft glow came from under his cloak, and it indented like his wings were straining against the fabric. “A few more paces over this way and I think we’re almost over it.”
    “Convenient. I hope you have a better plan for digging for it than just using our hooves or warm breath?”
    “A unicorn who knows a way to track it magically to guide a digging crew, likely drafted from locals who know how to dig through the ice. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m worried other magic might set it off, and mixing Discord’s magic and pony magic sounds like a great way to give this world a new crater.”
    “You want me to lead the dig?” Light Patch thought he saw a moment of excitement on Moon Dancer’s face before she quickly tempered it again. “All of this is pointless if the Orb isn’t here, by the way.” Moon Dancer closed her eyes, focusing her magic into a simple spell. A soft pulse of off-pink light emanated from her horn.
    Several tense seconds later, a faint off-pink light pulsed back from the ice beneath them. Moon Dancer’s eyes snapped open, going wide as the light passed over her. “Holy horse apples,” she muttered under her breath, forcing her expression back to a semblance of normalcy. “If that is the Orb...” she murmured quietly.
    “Like I said, we’re only several paces from where Jogging Gates estimated it was.” Light Patch pulled his head back as Moon Dancer got up in his face, a hard look adorning hers.
“We’re taking it to Twilight together. And if you try anything funny, I know of 27 different ways to disable you and take the Orb to her myself. Got it?”
    Light Patch sat there, frowning. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning to screw around with an artifact of that power. I was kinda hoping you’d need my help to sense it out... I thought I’d figured out a way to do the pottery scene,” Light Patch grumped.
    “Don’t worry, I can handle this on my own. Just like most things I do.” She frowned for a moment before continuing. “I’ll need a crew, equipment, and complete control over the dig.”
    “I’ll do what I can, but we aren’t gonna be able to bring in anything too big. I’d prefer to not attract too much attention to this digsite. The last thing we need is Chrysalis looking in, and Twilight would prefer that Celestia doesn’t wonder why her student doesn’t trust her or her sister’s judgment. I guess she’s thinking it’s easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.” Light Patch finished with another hidden shrug. “In anycase, you lead the dig, and I’ll try to get some locals to help dig, and squash any other fires that spring up.”
    Moon Dancer nodded slowly. “That sounds like Twilight alright. I’ll need to go back home and pick up some things... Clothes, equipment, psychology books... Essentials, basically. In the meantime, you can… work on your pottery, or whatever.”
    “I get to go and try to convince some ponies to help us dig in the frozen ice without being able to promise them more than... maybe a thanks from the Equestrian government.”
    Moon Dancer looked at the pegasus. “Twilight didn’t give you a budget to operate with?”
“One minute I was sitting in the castle waiting for any news from Twilight about my little magic infection, and suddenly she bursts in, throws a bag of bits at my face, shouts about the Orb, and teleports me to Canterlot with the last words I heard from her being, and I quote, ‘deal with this.’” Light Patch finished with a sigh.
“Sounds like she worked herself up again,” Moon Dancer said quietly before sneezing.
 “That is what it sounded like when I left the castle. Anyway, come on. This burlap sack cloak isn’t working well; I can’t feel my tail anymore. Let's get back to a town before we become ponycicles.” He finished by pulling the cloak a little tighter as he started to lead Moon Dancer away, letting him hide his impish smile.


* * *


    Light Patch sat at the table in the tavern, idly going over his notes while he waited for the small town’s mayor to meet with him. “Working with unicorn magic would be so much easier if I was a unicorn and not having to fudge all of this with math and loose understanding,” he muttered to himself.
He took a sip of the hot drink he’d been brought without even having asked. “I hope Wits has had a chance to look my notes over. Actually, I hope he’d even be willing to work with me. If he doesn’t, I’ll need another unicorn to assist. Maybe I can convince Moon Dancer to help.” He continued to mutter to himself while holding onto the hot drink, only to jump when he noticed a blue stallion staring back at him from the other side of the table.
“You the pegasus who’s been asking to meet with me?”
“Ah, you must be the mayor. Yes, I was actually hoping to-”
The blue stallion raised a hoof to interrupt. “Actually, I should stop you right there. I’m technically not the mayor; just the pony that gets stuck dealing with things that usually fall into a mayor's hooves.”
Light Patch shrugged. “Fair enough. Not much of a need for a mayor when there’s few enough that a direct vote requires maybe ten ponies to show up anyway.”
“Yeah. So what did you want to see me for anyway? You don’t look shiny enough to be from the Crystal Empire.”
“Princess Twilight has asked me to discreetly acquire an artifact of immense power.” The pegasus paused at the snort of the stallion across from him, but continued when no further interruption came. “The Orb of Glacious, yes. She asked me to dig it up quietly so they don’t have to try and figure out a way to send an entire regiment or more of Royal Guard to secure it.”
“And you're looking to have us help you dig it out,” the ceremonial mayor guessed. He took a large drink from his cup, prompting Light Patch to notice a new cup of his own.
“Yes. I was hoping there might be some miners who’d be able to help us dig it out very quickly. Or failing any actual miners, maybe just ya’ll’s familiarity with the local terrain could help us dig it out faster than bringing in non-locals.”
“There are a couple of local miners who might be willing to help,” the blue stallion replied. “And I know a small group of Diamond Dogs. They aren’t the most upstanding citizens, but they do owe me a few favors. They’ll have your dig finished rapidly, I figure.”
Light Patch considered the mayor’s words before speaking,.“I’m not sure about the Diamond Dogs. The last thing we need is for them to steal the ball of doom from us.” The mayor shook his head and set down the cup that had been halfway to his lips.
“They aren’t nearly the worst bandits. And like I said, they owe us favors, so they won’t just take the Orb from us. The bigger worry would be the Bow Gunners or Talon Mercenaries.” He paused, his voice growing quieter as he said the names, like he was worried that was all it’d take to make them appear, “Something’s riled them up, and both of those groups are operating in a wider area than they normally do.”
“Great, looks like my job as security is gonna be a little more interesting than I’d hoped it’d be. Tell me you’re at least willing to help dig it up?”
“I don’t suppose there’s a good chance for some Bits to come our way?”
“I can fund some extra equipment, but for the most part your payment is a quiet thanks from Equestria, and a sigh of relief in knowing that you don’t have an ancient artifact of unknown stability in your backyard anymore. Well, that and an archaeological dig site that might draw in a lot more opportunity.”
“Honestly, just not having the trouble of some bandit group deciding they’re gonna be the ones to find the Orb and make us dig it up for them would be payment enough,” the mayor said, downing the last of his drink. “Though if that archaeological dig site plays out in any fashion, I might just have to actually become the mayor.” He finished with a laugh before standing up to leave.