The Last of the Dark Ponies

by Askre

Chapter 21. Good news/bad news!

Chapter 21

Starlight put down the map when seeing Maud and Barbell return to the hut. Foxy and Dew Doe had by now arrived and the yaks had brought the ponies some food and put it on a center table.

“Hey, uh feeling better?” the unicorn asked, remembering how the opal pony had stomped out a little earlier.

“Yeah, sure,” Barbell shrugged and walked over to the table of food and picked some out for herself.

“Uh, Barbell,” Dew addressed her hesitantly. The earth pony eyed her as she was sitting down, but said nothing. Starlight suddenly got very busy with the map again.

“Look, I’m sorry we didn’t offer Barricade the help he needed. Yes, we focused more on Private and… overlooked that Barricade needed help as well,” the blue pegasus said, then she elbowed her sister who grumbled before eyeing the earth pony.

“Yeah… we should have known he needed therapy as well,” Foxy mumbled. She sighed when getting a glare from Dew Doe. “Sorry.”

“What’s with the sudden apologies?” Barbell arched her brow, taking a bite out of one of the hay cakes she had. She glanced at Starlight when the unicorn cleared her throat.

“I may have mentioned to them that you stomped out and why you stomped out and...oh hey, that reminds me, I need to talk with Prince Rutherford.” Starlight said quickly, put the map down and darted out of the hut. Three of the ponies watched this rushed exist, mildly confused.

“We are all in this together. King Sombra took ponies we all love and care about and he’s especially tortured two all three of us deeply care about. I understand that you are angry at us for ignoring Barricade’s needs. You don’t have to accept our apology, but I want to assure you that this time, we will help him,” Dew Doe continued.

Barbell turned back to her as she considered the pegasus’s words, chewing slowly on her food. Foxy looked more like she rather join Starlight in fleeing outside, but remained, knowing too well this had to be done.

“You promise you will help him?” Barbell finally asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yes,” Dew nodded. “I know it looked pretty unfair that we were so ready to help three strangers while we ignored Cara’s father.”

“It was,” Barbell snorted but then looked down as she thought this over. “Fine, if you help him, I will accept your apology.”

Dew Doe simply nodded, then glanced at her sister who grimaced like she was a little filly being told to eat the last piece of food that she hated. The blue pegasus just raised her brow slightly.

“Okay good. It’s fine,” Foxy growled and folded her legs in a huff.

“What’s your problem?” Barbell snorted, though deep down finding this rather amusing to watch.

Foxy looked at Dew Doe pleadingly, but her sister was unmoved, knowing all her younger sibling’s tricks. The blue pegasus just gave a sharp nod.

“Okay, okay. I’m jealous of you because you get to be with Barricade and he doesn’t treat you like trash,” Foxy confessed loudly and huffed again.

The sister’s looked at Barbell in surprise when the opal mare started laughing. It took a moment for the earth pony to regain composure. She nearly choked on her cake and had to beat on her chest to make sure it did go down. Then after drying the laughter tears from her eyes, she glanced at Foxy with a smirk.

“Seriously? That’s what’s bugging you? Look, I just give Barricade the same amount of shit he gives me. He tries anything, I pay him back. I have no secret method. I can be just as much of a jerk and he can be,” Barbell grinned wide. “Besides, we are in an open relationship, when I get tired of him, I toss him over to Goldie. When she gets tired of him, she tosses him back to me. If you want in again, I won’t stop you. Might save us the trouble if both Goldie and I get tired of him.”

Foxy’s jaw nearly scraped the floor. Dew Doe was just as stunned at this revelation. She did though slowly reach out to close her sister’s mouth with a hoof. Barbell was in stitches again at seeing their reaction.

“Yeaaah, no, that’s not happening,” Foxy muttered and decided to get busy with eating.

“Eh, suit yourself,” Barbell just shrugged. Then she looked at Dew Doe. “I take it our team leader wanted us to do this to avoid a dramatic conflict from flaring up in the middle of the rescue operation?”

“Uh kinda. She has done this before and yeah.” Dew confirmed with a nod. All eyes now went to Maud who had just been calmly eating in one corner of the hut, not even commenting on the event. The mares shrugged and turned to the food.

The pegasi and Barbell jumped a bit when Starlight suddenly burst into the hut. Held in her magic was Cara, tightly wrapped in a blanket to warm her up.

“Good news/bad news!” the unicorn shouted, but was interrupted by an even louder cry.

“CARA!” Barbell jumped to her hooves and raced over.

“BARBELL!!” Cara tore off the blanket and leaped for the earth pony as soon as she was let go from the magic aura. The teen and the mare hugged each other tight.

“Cara?” Dew Doe rose up and so did Foxy. “Where did she come from?”

“That’s the good news/bad news,” Starlight said, looking with a smile at the reunion right next to her before becoming serious again. “She escaped Sombra’s hideout. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad?” Dew slowly looked at the unicorn. So did Foxy and Maud. Starlight chuckled nervously.

“Sombra knows we’re coming,” she told them, not very surprised to see the sisters horrified reaction.

Explanations were put on hold though as the mares focused on Cara, who despite the burst of energy to hug her step-mother, was still feeling cold, tired and hungry. Dew Doe used the medical supplies given to her by Cadance to more properly wrap up the wound on the teenager’s side so there was less risk of it reopening. Barbell then wrapped the blanket around her again to warm her up. Then she was given a generous portion of the food on the table and allowed to eat and relax a bit.

The filly then told them what she had experienced in Sombra’s captivity and how she had escaped thanks to a tip from Rainbow Dash. The teen sounded especially proud to have been able to do what the rainbow pegasus had asked her to do.

Then of course came the part with the yeti, explaining her wound and how Sombra had been the one to save her. The most surprising part of all of course, was that Sombra had not only sealed up her wound, but then pretty much tossed her towards Yakyakistan with the message that he would be waiting for the rescue party.

“Before he did that, he did turn into his creepy smoke form and went towards the village, but he vanished. Then he reappeared next to me and well, threw me down the slope,” Cara finished and leaned on Barbell, feeling content, full and warm.

“He must have seen one of us from that vantage point and went to investigate closer, so he knows who to expect even.” Starlight sunk her brow in a frown as she considered this information. “It’s clear we’ll be walking right into a trap.”

“Cara, do you remember where that fort is?” Barbell asked the filly.

“Somewhere… uh northwest I think. You can’t miss it - the sky above it is yellow and glowy,” Cara answered, freeing one hoof from the blanket to vaguely wave in one direction.

“Well that should make it easier to find,” Foxy shrugged. “Just look for a yellow glow in the sky.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. Though vague, the directions did confirm what the goat Rock Hard had said.

“What do we do with Cara, though? Leave her here with the yaks? Ask them if they can take her to the Crystal Empire?” Barbell asked, Cara scrunched her face, but it was as if the earth pony could read her mind. She looked at her sternly. “Don’t even think about it, young lady. You are staying behind, safe.”

“You have done what you could, Cara, now we’ll go get the rest.” Dew Doe smiled at the filly, who sighed in resignation. Knowing too well the adults were right, she had done what she was supposed to do.

“She should be safe with the yaks, but if they could take her to the Crystal Empire, she could deliver a message for us to Shining Armor, who can further relay it to Cadance,” Starlight said and then patter her horn. “Frankly I don’t think I’m quite ready yet to send a magic message like I promised her.”

“Yeah, speaking of that, you are our only unicorn. What is the plan when we eventually face King Sombra?” Barbell asked with a skeptical expression.

“I was kind of hoping I had recovered enough when we reached there.” Starlight felt for the bump on her head. It had receded a little bit. She looked at Cara, who was curling up next to the opal pony. “Cara, how long were you flying?”

“I dunno,” Cara yawned wide. “Quite a while I think…”

Starlight rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully while Barbell carried the now sleeping teenager to one of the beds and carefully put her there. She then sat down right next to it, keeping one hoof on the filly.

“It might take us another day to reach it. We will be going slower since three of us are on hoof.” The unicorn once again pulled up the map, looked at it for a second before putting it away. “I should be mostly recovered by then and Twilight did teach me a few spells that should be helpful against Sombra.”

“I guess we are heading off then?” Foxy asked.

“The sooner the better. Best not hold off for too long - not with what Cara has told us Sombra is doing.” Starlight nodded. Nobody really argued.

Starlight headed outside to arrange with Prince Rutherford to either keep Cara safe in the village or take her back to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the mares started packing and preparing their gear. The unicorn returned a little later with the word from the yak prince. He would happy to take the filly south to the Crystal Empire as soon as she had rested.

The mares thus decided to wait a little while longer so Cara would be awake and could say goodbye to Barbell. Dew Doe and Foxy used the opportunity to go to Granite and Pebble to say goodbye to them. The two goats were still grieving the loss of Rock Hard, but were grateful to be able to see the pegasi off.

Granite even gave them some tips how to traverse the mountains they would be tackling and told them not to worry about other mountain goats. They rarely travelled this far south anymore and probably doubly so considering who was squatting in that abandoned fort. They were though somewhat alarmed to learn that that was exactly were the ponies were heading. Dew Doe had to explain to them that their friends and family were being kept there and they had to rescue them.

“Well, if I can’t convince you otherwise. I can tell you this, there is a secret entrance where the path ends before it turns into the cliff the fort is on,” Granite told the sisters. “It can be opened by pushing specific rock in three places, but I don’t know if the demon knows about it.”

“Thank you. That is certainly helpful,” Dew Doe thanked her and gave the goat one last goodbye hug. She then left the medical hut with Foxy, who did have to peel a very reluctant Pebble off her, having to promise the young kid that she would try and visit if that was even permissible.

After a few hours of preparation, Cara finally did wake up. The yaks were already getting ready with a party of their own to take her down to the Crystal Empire. After a semi-tearful farewell, both Barbell and Cara tried to pretend not to be crying. The mares stood at the gate of the yak village, watching as the teenager was carried off by the yaks. They were themselves packed and ready and once Cara’s party was gone from sight, they headed for the slope the filly had come down from.

It didn’t take them too long to reach the ridge where Sombra had spied on the village. Very shortly after that, they found the battle ground where the yeti had been bested by the king. From there they discovered the path the filly had landed on and started traveling on it.

The mares did find the yeti. Its wound was not fully healed and the moment it put eyes on Starlight and her unicorn horn, it yelped and scampered as quickly as it possibly could away.

“I guess the yeti learned the hard way that unicorn horns can be used for something else other than just magic,” Starlight remarked as the mares watched the creature flee. Nobody complained. This did save them from having another yeti fight.

As they travelled, the mares soon realized that they probably couldn’t fully follow Cara’s route. She had flown for most of it and only came to the path when she was at her last strength. Thankfully, Dew and Foxy could use some of Granite’s tips to navigate in addition of using Starlight’s map, thus they could mostly keep northwest.

Eventually they didn’t really require the map though, in the distance they could see the sky was turning a strange shade of sickly yellow. The ponies steeled themselves, realizing they were closing in on their goal.

Starlight knew however that they wouldn’t get there today. The daylight was already failing and Granite had warned the sisters from traversing the mountains during the night. There was just one problem - there was no proper shelter so far on the path.

The mares continued, hoping to find a cave or something that they could rest during the night, but nothing appeared. In the end, Maud located a suitable spot on the mountain wall and started digging one for them. Barbell joined in to make the work faster. Finally Starlight risked using her magic to enlarge the cave even more so all five could fit in more comfortably.

Inside the cave the ponies pulled out the blankets they had brought in the saddlebags and prepared to rest on suitable spots on the ground. Starlight and Maud made a fireplace that was lit by the unicorn’s magic.

“I think I’ve come up with a plan,” Starlight said once all five ponies were gathered mostly around the fire and covered themselves with their blankets. The four other mares all listened attentively.

“Of the five of us, I do stand the best chance against Sombra. So I think it would be best that any direct confrontation should be done by me,” the unicorn continued and glanced at each of them, sporting a serious frown. “Flash Sentry can tell you how well a non-unicorn will fare in a physical fight against him.”

“What happened to him?” Barbell asked and was told quite simply about the guard’s broken wings. The earth pony quickly nodded in full agreement with this first portion of the plan.

“Cara told us that the fort appears to be built straight on a cliff face. The only obvious entrance can only be reached by flying or teleportation, however,” Starlight pointed the pegasi. “The goats told them about a secret entrance that can be reached on hoof.”

“I think the best plan we really have is that I try and teleport into the fort, but the four of you go for the secret entrance. I will draw out Sombra and distract him while you sneak in from the backdoor, so to speak, locate the prisoners and free them,” the unicorn finished.

“You think you can do it in your condition?” Dew wondered looking very concerned.

“I will just have to try. It will probably hurt my head, but hopefully I can distract him long enough for you to get at the prisoners. Also, since Cara is probably in the Crystal Empire now, a message should be heading to Cadance about Sombra’s location. Hopefully they can send some extra help in time,” Starlight told her in a determined tone.

“Alright, I’m sold.” Barbell nodded and Maud did as well. The pegasi sisters, especially Dew, seemed most hesitant before both agreed to the plan.

“Good. Now let’s try and get some rest. It will be the final leg tomorrow and… then it’s King Sombra,” Starlight sighed and lay down on the makeshift blanket pillow she had made. The other mares began doing the same and soon they were all fast asleep.

---

When Starlight woke up the next morning, the unicorn felt better. The small, lingering headache was gone. That gave her some hope as she started to rise. She saw that most of the other mares were already up. Only Foxy still snored away and was well and truly tangled up in her blankets.

“Morning,” Dew greeted her. She sat on top of her blankets, eating a little of the food they had brought.

“Morning,” Starlight responded, but couldn’t help but stare at Foxy. “Shouldn’t we wake her up?”

“In a minute, just wanted to eat a little first,” Dew Doe chuckled and finished up her food. Then she flew out of the cave.

Starlight scratched her head unsure before taking note of the others. Maud was holding her pet rock as she ate and Barbell was further inside doing pushups. Dew Doe return with her front legs full of snow.

“What are you doing?” the unicorn blinked.

“A little karma for last winter,” the blue pegasus grinned wickedly and positioned herself right above her sister. Then she promptly dumped her entire load of snow right on top of the sleeping pony beneath her.

“ACK!” Foxy shouted, sputtered and struggled to get out of the tangled blankets. The maroon pegasus then glared up at her sister.

“I told you I would get you back when you least expected it,” Dew giggled, darting away when the bigger pegasus managed to untangle herself and immediately shot up after her.

“Oookay, I suppose sisters must be sisters.” Starlight shrugged, at least everyone was in good humor despite knowing what awaited them.

“I’ll get you for this, Dew Doe!” Foxy cried as she flew in circles around the cave after the blue pegasus.

“Hey, you are the one who dumped all those ice cubes on me last winter,” Dew reminded her.

“That’s beside the point!” the maroon pony declared.

“Alright you two. That’s enough.” Starlight rose up and used her magic to stop both pegasi in the air, although she was smiling. “We have a mission to complete.”

“Yes, hear that? We have a mission to do. No time for some silly shenanigans,” Dew said and folded her legs, grinning wide.

“Says the pony who just finished dumping snow on me,” Foxy grumbled. When she was let go from the magic the pegasus landed and was given some food to eat.

“Older sister privileges.” Dew landed as well and just smiled at the stink-eye given to her by her sister.

“Eat up everypony, if you haven’t already. I want us up and ready soon,” Starlight declared. As amusing as the sisters were being, it didn’t change the fact that they were on the very last leg of a very dangerous journey and soon it would become really dangerous.

The unicorn was almost wishing they were only facing yeti right now.

End chapter 21