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// Chapter 55: Another Party Split? ALRIGHT! 
// Story: Caverns & Cutie Marks 
// by TheColtTrio 
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	“I’m on the road to… Uh...” the mint-colored unicorn’s short-lived song was cut short. Wits turned back to his companions. “Where’re we going again?”
“The border town of Mistakwe,” Purple Heart replied, continuing to glare irritably at the gauntlet held in his forehoof. “We have to find out why they haven’t responded to any of the couriers.”
“If you glare at that any harder, dude, you’re gonna blow your eyes up,” Light Patch said, bumping his friend in the side. The purple earth pony grumbled and returned the gauntlet to his pack, conceding defeat for the time being.
“Right, right,” Wits End nodded. “Doesn’t fit the number of syllables in the original song, though…” He turned his head the other way to look at Just Duty. “What about you, Lord Duty? Are you coming to make mistakes with us? Or somewhere else first?”
“As I mentioned when I joined you, I was hoping to investigate some ruins along the same road you were taking,” the older stallion said, adjusting the fit of his armor again. “It was also time for me to depart from the capital in any case and, Mistakwe is not far from my own town in any case.”
“What’s your town like?” Purple Heart asked curiously. “Is it a beautiful thing to see in the summer?”
“Summer is the nicest time to see it, mostly as it’s not entirely buried in snow at that time,” Duty replied, thinking he might have missed a joke. “As for the town itself, there isn’t much to say. The biggest town of the hoof full on the land I oversee is still small. Mostly because the town was founded on the biggest plateau of the major trade route through the mountains, creating a natural northern border to Roania.”
Wits End coughed. “Not to be incredibly dense,” he said slowly, “but when do we get to learn the name of this magical land of hope and wonder?” He turned back to the path. “Some sort of horse-based pun, I’m sure,” he muttered under his breath.
“Ibnutas Pass,” Just Duty responded simply.
Wits mouth formed a thin line. “Somehow, the lack of a pun is more disappointing.”
Purple Heart rolled his eyes. “Puns and lack thereof aside, I hope I can find some kind of armourer to appraise this thing.” He jerked his head at the packed gauntlet. “I still can’t seem to equip it. It’s bugging me. Maybe there’ll be a pony who can tell me what’s wrong with it in Mistakwe. Or along the way.”
“I still say you oughta try sticking it on your head rooster-style,” the pegasus stallion muttered.
“He’s the penguin nut,” Purple Heart gestured at Wits End. “Make him wear it. Besides, I don’t wear trousers, thus they can’t be wrong.”
“Are you kidding?” Wits balked at the suggestion. “It would clash horribly with my cloak.” He frowned. “Hmm. Channeled Rarity there. How much longer until we reach My Shiitake or whatever it’s called?”
“Okay, now you’re doing it on purpose,” Light Patch said to his mint colored friend. “You’ve heard the name enough times that you couldn’t possibly be getting it that wrong.”
Wits End smiled innocently. “Now why would I do something like that?” A thought crossed his mind. “Oh yeah, speaking of forgetting...” His horn glowed pale green as he retrieved an aged scroll from the depths of his cloak. “Make sure I don’t run into any trees while I read this.” Purple Heart’s left eye twitched but he remained silent. Light Patch rolled his eyes as he wrapped one of his wings over his friend to steer him.
“You got it, dude. What's the scroll about anyway? Also, when and where did you get it?” the grey pegasus asked.
“What, this?” Wits hesitated for a second. “For now, let’s just say I got it as a reward for a job well done. It’s supposed to teach Mimics, such as moi, something like the Alter Self spell. The tough part is that it’s ain’t exactly written in the king’s Equestrian. It’ll take me a couple of Use Magic checks or something like that before I get this down, I think. Now shush. I’m being incredibly clever.”
“Riiight. You might wanna toss in a few Language checks in there as well,” Purple Heart hummed, eyeing the cliff a little ways down the way where the path split. “Also, I take no responsibility for what will happen in due course.” When they reached the fork in the path, Just Duty paused, then cleared his throat to get the attention of the three colts.
“It has been...interesting, gentlecolts, but I’m afraid this split in the path is where we part ways,” the old noble said.“I wish you three luck in your quest.”
“Actually, Just Duty, I was thinking I’d join you until you’re done with the ruins. Between the two of us, we should have it done in a lickety spit,” Light Patch said.
Wits End’s ears perked up. “What? What happened to ‘don’t split the party’?”
“I concur,” Purple Heart frowned, looking quizzically at Light Patch. “What brought on this decision? Haven’t things gone very south every time we split the party, intentional or otherwise? Shouldn’t we take a break from intentionally provoking Discord, hmm?”
Light Patch glanced at the older stallion adjusting his armor for the umpteenth time before pulling his friends into a huddle. “Look, I’m a little worried for the old guy. He hasn’t been an adventurer for a long time. He’s outta shape, and he doesn’t have his paladin magic any more. We inspired him to try this adventuring thing again, so I feel somewhat responsible for his well being. And besides, it couldn’t hurt to have a noble with a small out of the way town at least willing to let us use it as a base if something goes wrong. And you know something will, with Discord in charge. Besides, this should be quick. And if it is too much for us, he’s smart enough to know to come back with an army,” Light Patch finished before jumping back from the huddle.
Purple Heart sighed as he pulled away. “Fine then. Guess I’ll stick with Wits to make sure he doesn’t get lost. We’ll meet you at Mistakwe in… three days?”
Wits shrugged. “Three days sounds about right. I’ll make sure Purply doesn’t accidently seduce another royal on the way there. Try not to take too many crits to the face protecting the paladin, though.” With that said, he put his nose back to the scroll and started on his way back down the path.
Light Patch and Just Duty turned to head down their path before Light Patch turned back to face his two friends. “Oh, and don’t worry about my pretty face. Not even all of the crits in the world would make it uglier than yours,” he shouted before sprinting down his path. Just Duty followed along once his surprise wore off.
“I gotta say, he got you there,” Purple Heart chortled as he watched Just Duty and Light Patch disappear around a copse of trees. “Now, lessgo. I wanna find out what the carp is wrong with this gauntlet.”
“Mmm hmm.” Wits’ attention was focused on his scroll as he continued on autopilot down the path. “Have you tried putting it on since the level up?”
Purple Heart nodded as he pulled the gauntlet once more from his pack. “Only once though. I was out in the forest letting off some steam. I tried to put it on and it was all, ‘NOPE’ as it went flying off through a few trees. Scared the carp outta me when some trees decided it’d be a good idea to squish me. It didn’t have this reaction when I first tried it in Boomer’s Bandit Bungalow.”
“Maybe you’re not meeting the minimum requirements,” Wits offered. “Or maybe that’s what it’s suppose to do. Maybe it’s got a plus seven against foliage.”
“Har har,” Purple Heart snorted, noting the oncoming cliff. He cut his eyes aside to the mint-colored unicorn. “If that’s the case, I’m a bit disappointed. It was supposed to be a family heirloom passed down from father to son. I’m kinda skeptical at that. Do you think you could help me find an armourer or enchanter to appraise it?”
“Sure, as you-” Wits End paused,  feeling a suspicious lack of terra firma under his hoof with his next step, which was immediately followed by a sudden descent. “Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~!” The unicorn tumbled down the cliff face, each bounce down the rocky face forcing an almost comical squeak from him.
Purple Heart peered over the edge of the cliff. Half of him was amused that he even suspected such a course of action would take place while the other was astonished that it actually happened. A small smirk curved his lips and he called down to his fallen comrade. “You okay West Lee? Cuz I’m not tumbling after you. I’m not Butter Cup.”
A couple of seconds passed before a response echoed up from the valley below. “I’ve been better,” Wits groaned, picking himself up from the dust and dirt, wincing as he felt the bruises and scratches from his tumble. He sighed heavily as he looked up the cliff face. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a rope or a tree branch or something useful like that?”
“Nope,” Purple Heart replied in the negative. “Not even some lightning sand or unusually sized rodents. Sorry. And it doesn’t look like there’s a natural way back up. You’ll have to get to Mistakwe on your own from there.”
“Of course…” Wits dusted his cloak off, his eyes focusing on the torn and dirtied remains of the scroll at his feet. “Well, that’s one dead piece of paper. Guess I’ll be piecing that together from memory on the way there.” He turned his head back up toward the purple pony above him, throwing a half-hearted salute. “I’ll see you in the next town over then.”
“Indeed,” Purple Heart agreed. “Just be careful. And try to tell Twilight it was Light’s idea to split the party. Again. I’m not too keen on being hunted by an irate alicorn with a squad of equally terrifying mares. Not good for my health y’know.”
Wits End thought for a moment. “Suuuuure. I’ll be sure to tell her it was Patchy’s idea and not yours.” His tone suggested less than sincere intentions as he started down the valley. “See ya later!
“Bai~,” Purple Heart waved. He turned to the path opposite the one Light Patch and Just Duty had taken. “Welp… Once more unto the breach.” And he trotted down the path into parts unknown.


* * *


“Ya know, it’s nice to be back to the usual set up. Not that Ah have any issue with them colts, but it’s nice fer it to just be us six fer a change,” Applejack said, walking alongside Twilight.
“It really is,” Twilight agreed. “It’s been awhile since it was just us girls together.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie cheered as she bounced along at the front of the party. “Mister Patchy, Mister Grumpy, and Mister Minty are really funny ponies to be around! But just us girls is fun too!”
“Do you think they’re coping without us?” Fluttershy asked softly.
“Of course they are!” Rainbow Dash countered from where she hovered above the walking mares. “Wits has brains enough for all of them, Purple has the absurd strength and will to not fall down, and Light...”
“Makes the comments that get him hit,” Rarity concluded. “Sounds like they’re three parts of a whole.”
“Something still has me puzzled though,” Twilight mused, her brow furrowing. The other mares looked at the magenta alicorn expectantly. “Purple Heart was really insistent on getting them all together for some reason. I’m not sure what though...”
Pinkie Pie perked up. “Maybe they’re off to learn their own lesson about friendship that’ll be resolved in thirty minutes or less! Maybe there’ll be a song or two along the way! Maybe-”
“Maybe they just would like some time on their own,” Fluttershy muttered. “Like us. They haven’t had time alone together either, after all.”
“That could be it,” Twilight agreed, “I’m sure they consider us as strange as we think they are at times. But weird as their friendship appears, they do seem to be close.”
“Ah’m not so sure about us being strange to them,” Applejack spoke up. “They seem to take our antics in stride. Heck, they weren’t even surprised at Pinkie for very long, and that takes doin’.”
Twilight frowned and came to a stop. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. They all seemed to know us when we all first met, as if they had heard of us and knew what we were like. And they caught on to the rules and ideas of the game much faster than we did. Even I took some time to absorb all the rules. But they seemed to have prior knowledge...”
“Don’t tell me you still suspect them of being Discord’s minions,” Rarity asserted, frowning at Twilight as she came up beside the stationary alicorn.
“Well, maybe not his minions... But don’t forget girls.” Twilight paused to look at her friends. “We have come up against more villains than just Discord. They could be changelings. Or maybe they work for one of the others we’ve fought. Or they could be working for a villain we’ve never encountered, and they’re spying for that villain and trying to make friends with us so we let our guard down and-”
“Twi, relax,” Applejack said shortly. “In case ya’ll have forgotten, those three’ve said they’re from outside Equestria. Now, Ah don’t know ‘bout ya’ll, but if Ah were Discord, Ah wouldn’t want ta write an entire game from scratch. He probably just grabbed a copy from wherever they’re from.” The farmpony nudged Fluttershy with an elbow. “‘Shy, back me up here b’fore Twi get’s too wound up.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Well, um, actually…”
Applejack’s face fell. “Ah shoot.” 
“Before we left Gallopilli,” the shy pegasus continued, “I talked to Wits End. When we were finished, he made a promise.” She bit her lower lip, as if unsure whether to continue. “A Pinkie Promise. I… I didn’t think much of it at the time, but if those three are really from outside Equestria, how would he know what a Pinkie Promise is?”
The silence was deafening as all six mares stood or hovered in place as they absorbed this crucial detail. If a pin had been murdered, everypony would have heard its dying cries. Time seemed to slow. A hummingbird’s wings were visible to the naked eye. A dragonfly lazily landed gracefully on a leaf of a wild rose. Time resumed and the sounds of the forest erupted.
“WHAT?!” Twilight screeched.
“Fluttershy said that Wits End had knowledge that, if he and the other stallions are from where they say they are, he shouldn’t possess. And then there was absolute silence.” Pinkie cheerfully summed up, happily bouncing in place. Rarity stepped forward and cleared her throat.
“Just a moment, dear, before you jump to any conclusions. Did any of you mention what a Pinkie Promise was or bring it up with one of them at some point?” The fashionista asked looking at the others. “I can assure you I didn’t mention or explain it at any point.” She quickly added after a moment.
“Actually,” Applejack mumbled. “Wits brought up a pinkie promise to me too. During the time at the library.” Twilight arched an eyebrow at this.
“You two spoke at the library in private?” she asked. The orange earth pony nodded, flush apparent on her cheeks.
“What’d you talk about?” Rainbow Dash urged.
Applejack squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “Ah can’t say! Ah made a pinkie promise!”
“Foooorrrrreeeevvveeeeeerrrr~” Pinkie said, suddenly appearing under Applejack’s hat.
“Well, if you can’t say, you can’t say,” Rarity mused. “It must have been something important.”
Applejack nodded jerkily as Pinkie Pie crawled down. “In a roundabout way, yeah.”
“Well, I’m going to contact those idiots,” Twilight sighed. “Spy or not, we’re working together. For now.” With a twinge of her magic, she activated the telepathy spell and contacted Purple Heart.
“Purple Heart? Are you there?”
“Read you loud ‘n’ clear, Mother. How goes it in the land of colt-free travel?”
Twilight frowned at the colt’s greeting. “I am not your mother. As for colt-free travel, it’s been very fine. Not much stress. Some, but nothing major.” A lie. “What about you? You four encounter any issues?”
“Aha.” Pause. “Depends on what you classify as ‘issue’.”
Twilight balked at Purple Heart’s mental response. “What happened.” It wasn’t a question.
“Welp, you see, Just Duty, Wits, Light, and I were walking along, minding our own business, when lo! Just Duty departs to investigate rumors about an artifact of immense power. Light Patch, being the good samaritan that he is, elected to ‘assist’ the aging pony and went with him.” Twilight could hear the air quotes. “After that, me and Wits were chatting a bit and the unfortunate snob wasn’t watching where he was going and took a little tumble down a cliff.”
“Oh my! Is he okay?”
“‘Course he is,” Purple Heart replied. “Squishy though he may be, but a brief fall down a cliff won’t really do much to impair his sarcasm and wit. Nor will it hurt him physically. Much.”
Twilight sighed at the purple earth pony’s dismissal at his friend’s welfare. “So you got split up? Again?”
“Eeyup. Not my fault though.”
“Fine. Take care.”
“Yes, Mother. Tusk-anini out.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Try not to blow up Light and Wits’ brains please. They need those. And thank you for not raging at my arse.”
Twilight’s brow was even more furrowed than when she first opened the connection as she broke it. “Have Wits or Light ever mentioned ‘Tusk-anini’?” she asked, turning to the other five mares.
“I don’t remember anything about Tusk-anini, but I do remember Light Patch giving us this long talk on a stallion named Murphy, and his downer rules of pessimistic living.” Pinkie said, bouncing on the spot.
Twilight hummed as she considered what Pinkie had said. “I guess I’ll be talking to Light Patch next,” she muttered, changing her focus. “Are you there, Light Patch?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Wherever here is. I knew we should've turned left at Albuquerque,” the stallion in question responded.
Twilight frowned, electing to ignore what she was sure was yet another reference. “A little purple bird told me you’ve split off from your friends. Should I be worried?”
“Unlikely. This place is fairly small. I suspect Discord threw it in as a potential camping site with a little more to do in it,” Light Patch paused for a moment. “Just Duty and I should be done with this quickly, and I’ll be back to the other guys in a day or two. Best of all, I haven’t seen a single monster yet, so this is instantly better than the catacombs under the castle.”
“What happened in the catacombs?” Twilight flinched internally, instantly regretting the question.
“Slime,” the stallion responded darkly. “And being the monster magnet for the others. Everything hit me first. Like I was a heavy tank trying to hide behind a too small bush.”
“I suppose someponies could call that karma,” Twilight mentally muttered. “Well, I’ll check in again tomorrow. Try to keep safe; both you and Just Duty.”
“You got it dudette. We’ll finish up checking out these ruins, and I’ll catch up with the guys in a day or two.”
“Good luck.” Twilight closed the connection. “Light Patch seems like he’s alright. Now for our mint-colored friend…”
“How are Purple Heart and Light Patch doing?” Rarity asked.
“Fine,” Twilight ground out. “They got separated again.”
“More party splitting?” Applejack commented. “Wow. They seem ta really like doin’ that.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed while Pinkie and Fluttershy simply nodded.
“Anyway, the mint colt,” Twilight said, shifting her focus once more. “Wits End? Did you break anything?”
“Just my pride,” Wits replied. “I take it you talked to Purple Heart already. There goes my chance to claim he pushed me off while saying ‘long live the king’.”
“He wouldn’t do that… Would he?”
“Not for any drop more than ten feet. Relax, it was a joke. What’s up?”
“Just checking in on you three. What’s this I hear about splitting the party? Didn’t one of you say that was the worst possible thing that could happen?”
Wits End scoffed. “Of course it is! Why else do you think we did it? Besides, I don’t think it’ll be too bad.” He paused for a moment. “Well, now that I’ve said that…”
“Well, as long as you’re fine. Be careful and tell me if you need any help.”
“Thanks, mom. I’ll call if I need a ride home.” Twilight heard the unicorn groan. “That tumble must’ve done more than I thought. I’ve got a wicked headache now. I’ll talk to you later.” A moment later, the connection closed.
“Well, I think they should be fine until we all meet up again,” Twilight decided, turning to the mares. “We’ll also have to talk about how we’ll meet back up.”
Rainbow Dash punched one forehoof with the other. “I say we meet them by knocking them out, tying them down, and beating some answers outta them!”
“Maybe not that…” Fluttershy muttered.
“I think they’d be more forthcoming if we were polite and gentle with our questioning,” Rarity sniffed. “You seem to forget, Rainbow Dash, that Purple Heart is the Champion of the Coliseum, a title he earned. Wits is certainly on par with Twilight intelligence wise, and is significantly more tricky. And while Light Patch may not look like much, he is strong in his own way. We actually don’t know all that much about his abilities, aside from hitting ponies to heal them.”
“Or getting critted by anything and everything,” Rainbow muttered to Pinkie, causing the two of them to giggle until Rarity glared at them.
“Regardless, I don’t think an outright conflict would be wise,” the white fashionista unicorn continued.
“Then what’re we supposed ta do?” Applejack grumbled. “Just let’m keep lyin’ to us like a bunch’ve yellabellied snakes?”
“Maybe we should just ask them about exactly where it is they come from, if they don’t mind telling us?” Fluttershy said quietly. “I don’t think any of us have actually asked them about that.”
“Whatever we decide,” Twilight cut in, “we don’t have to decide it right now. For now, let’s focus on getting to Ade. We can think of a plan once we’re closer.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “That’s surprisingly levelheaded, given what you’re opinion of those three has been so far.”
“And THEN we can beat them up,” the purple alicorn finished, cocking her forehoof.
“...Never mind then.”