A Different Kind of Treasure

by Mechawrecker

The Serpent’s Pass: Part 1

“Keep an eye out! They can’t have gotten far!”

The two sentries roved around the top of the guard tower, searching for any sign of the three ponies. A gleam of light reflected off the spear gripped tight in the commanding officer’s claw. With another scan of the surrounding landscape, he turned to growl at his battle partner.

“Damn it, they’re not here! Let’s circle back around to the gate and continue looking. Maybe the border patrols already brought them in.”

His teammate nodded and flapped his wings for takeoff. When the two dragons flew into the air, a small boulder shifted off the ground as the three treasure hunters dug out of their hastily-made trench.

Cloud groaned, rubbing her sides with a tender wing. “Ugh! I thought those flankholes would never leave. I’m pretty sure my hooves are going n--”

Before she could finish, Flitter’s scathing voice cut across her complaint, “That would be a real tragedy, wouldn’t it?”

Flinching irritably, Cloudchaser glowered and fixed her with an unappreciative sneer. “What’s your problem, Flitter!? You’ve been really bitchy ever since we got to the pass.”

Flitter’s eyes flashed with anger as she clenched the longbow in her hoof. “Seeing as you’re the reason we’re being hunted down by those murderous soldiers, I’d say my ‘bitchy’ attitude is more than justified.”

Their attack on the Serpent’s Pass had been an absolute fiasco. Before they had even crossed the narrow stretch of road to the entrance gate, a massive war horn sounded, and dozens of heavily-armed dragons descended on their position. Within a few minutes, the entire attack party had been surrounded by the advancing guards.

As the massive defense force approached, Spark ordered his unit to draw their weapons and take a final stand. The defecting warriors fought bravely, but they were no match for the small army bearing down on them from all sides and were quickly subdued.

Seeing Spark and his unit being dragged away, the three adventurers made a break for the gate entrance, desperate to avoid the horrible fate that awaited them if they were captured.

Despite the dragons’ ambush, their bulky frames and heavy armor were no match for the swiftness of a pegasus. After several hours of frantic flying, the three pegasi raced to the ground and hid in an abandoned war trench. There, they dug into the shallow pit and covered themselves with dirt and rocks until the coast was clear.

“My fault!?” Cloud barked, shooting daggers at her accuser. “How is this my fault? If anything, it’s your fault for not warning us about the ambush. I mean, one of your powers is future sight, for Celestia’s sake!”

Flitter clenched her teeth and hissed, “It’s your fault because you built that stupid fire I warned you about! Those patrols probably saw the smoke from miles away and reported it to the gate before we even got close!”

She growled for several seconds before turning away with a huff. “Besides, I can’t use my future sight ability at will. It only activates when my spirit deems it worthy of my attention. Apart from that, I can’t see any further into the future than you.”

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes and waved a condescending hoof through the air. “Well, isn’t that convenient. Makes me wonder why we even brought you along…”

Sensing the impending feud, Sky stepped between them and raised his hooves. “Girls, I know things look bad right now, but we need to work together! Spark and his unit were kidnapped because of our mistake, so we need to think of a plan to rescue them. The longer we spend bickering amongst ourselves, the less time we have before they get executed.”

The three ponies fell silent as they imagined the horrible punishment their captive allies would surely receive. Shivering at the thought, Cloud stood up and shook her disheveled mane. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go and bust them out!”

Sky shook his head. “No, we can’t force our way through. Those dragons already know we’re here, so they’ll be expecting our attack.” He turned to stare at the fortified garrison. “What we need is a new plan. If we stick to what we were doing before, we’ll be killed faster than Princess Celestia can finish eating a triple-decker lava cake.”

Cloud snorted into her hooves as Flitter let out an appreciative giggle. Grinning at his own joke, he continued, “I think we should wait for nightfall. We’ll be harder to spot in the dark, and the night watch will be a skeleton crew compared to the day shift. If we can sneak in and break them out before anyone can sound the alarm, there won’t be any need to fight through the rest of the dragon guard.”

The two sisters nodded and began to unpack their supplies. As Flitter searched for a first aid kit in the jumbled mess of camping gear and canned food, a sudden flash of red caught her eye.

Pulling the object out, she stared in disbelief at the familiar red Powerpony plushie Cloud got from the marketplace. She had almost forgotten about the conspicuous doll after everything that happened, but the fresh sight of it began to unsettle her nerves in a way that made her stomach churn.

As she continued gazing at the enigmatic toy, a flurry of questions flooded her mind.

Why was the doll in their supply bag? Why did Cloud bring it with her? And last but not least…

Who was the one that really gave her the doll?

Flitter’s eyes narrowed as she recalled what Griffy had said during their goodbyes: “What are you talking about? I never got Cloud a Powerpony doll.”

She couldn’t imagine why he would lie about something like this, so the discrepancy must have come from Cloud. But why…

“Hey, you found the Powerpony plushie!”

Flitter’s wings shot out as a deep voice sounded behind her. Whipping around, she stared into the golden irises currently locked onto her own. “Sky, you almost gave me a heart attack! Make some more noise when you walk.”

He chuckled under his breath and stomped on the ground. “I thought the point of stealth was to be quiet when you move. Of course, I could always start singing the Equestrian national anthem when we get to the dragon’s gate if that makes you feel better~”

Rolling her eyes, she cracked a smile at his playful jab before holding up the fluffy action figure. “No, thank you. I’d prefer not to be stabbed in the gut if I can help it.” They both laughed at her reply before she continued, “I was just wondering where Cloud got this toy. She said Griffy gave it to her when she helped deal with some customers, but he told me that wasn’t the case.”

Sky blinked in surprise at the familiar present. “I’m not sure why Cloud told you that. I’m the one who bought it for her.”

A chilling wave of dread washed over Flitter as her mind went numb. Staring at the red figurine, her initial feeling of shock rapidly gave way to a surge of fear and betrayal.

Biting her lip, she squeezed the plushie so tight that the buttons started to strain against the seams in the fabric. No, that can’t be true. Cloud promised to back off. She wouldn’t...

Shoving the strangled doll back into the supply bag, she adopted a pleasantly confused expression before asking, “Why did you buy her a Powerpony doll? Was there some sort of special occasion or something?”

Before he could reply, Cloud called out and interrupted their conversation. “Sky, can you help me with my tent? I can’t get these damn poles to fit right!”

He flashed Flitter an apologetic smile before trotting towards the frustrated mare who was now trying to hammer two separate pieces of the tent’s frame together.

As his brown coat melted into Cloud’s deep-purple, Flitter turned away with a pained grimace, not wanting to see more of them than she had to.

Throwing one last spiteful glare at her deceitful sister, she picked up her longbow and ran a hoof along the arrows in her quiver.

“That’s the last straw, Cloud. One way or another, we’re settling this now.”

---

Sky raised an eyebrow at the thrashing lump in the tent’s cover. Several sounds could be heard from within the writhing mass, the most prominent being curse words not suitable for even the hardest of criminals.

After watching the amusing spectacle for a while, he decided she had suffered enough humiliation and pulled on the tent’s folds, which untangled the struggling mare inside.

Stumbling to her hooves, Cloud ripped away the constricting fabric and shot a glare at his barely contained smirk. “Nice of you to help me out. If you had taken any longer, you might as well have buried me in that spider web.”

A small smile appeared on Sky’s muzzle as he removed the tent anchors from the ground. “I figured you could deal with a simple camping tent on your own considering how stallionly you are with most other stuff.”

Cloud rolled her eyes and let out an affronted huff. “What did I say about insulting a beautiful mare’s style? Do you want to feel another one of my barrel busters?” She extended her wing to give him a playful nudge and highlight the consequences of insulting her marely pride.

The instant her primary touched his coat, Sky flinched and recoiled away as if fearful of contracting a deadly disease. His terrified eyes pierced her startled expression before dissolving into a visage of shame and regret.

Averting his gaze from the bewildered mare, he grabbed the mallet and began hammering the proper anchors into the tent. “L-Let’s just finish setting up and gather some food. Most of our supplies were destroyed during our scuffle with the dragon guards.”

Cloud gaped for a moment before fixing him with a concerned stare. “Are you okay? That was a pretty extreme reaction to a wing bump.”

She reached out a tentative wing and brushed it along his barrel. As her feathers glided across his back, the muscles tensed up and contracted, causing him to stiffen at the delicate ministrations.

Trying not to panic, Sky pulled away from her and focused on the tent poles scattered at his hooves. “I’m fine. We need to finish this quickly if we want to eat dinner tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed at his sudden mood swing, but she ultimately wrote it off as a build-up of stress and anxiety. Wiping sweat off her forehead, Cloud hammered in another anchor before glancing up at his shaking form.

Sighing, she stood up and adopted a bashful expression before beginning an apology. “Listen, I’m sorry I built that campfire. I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I felt so cold after we stopped hugging on that riverbank. I didn't mean to screw us over like this.”

As her pleading gaze pierced his heart, Sky felt the guilt and shame swell inside him. Swallowing what felt like a mouthful of sawdust, he croaked out, “I’m not mad at you. The fire wasn’t the smartest idea in the world, but there’s no point crying over spilled milk. Let’s just focus on moving forward and rescuing Spark before he and his squad are used as training dummies.”

Cloud let out a bark of laughter and started setting up her tent. “I could use a training dummy to sharpen up my skills. You wouldn’t mind if I tried out a few of my new moves on you, right?”

Sky let out a weak chuckle and turned away before she could see the pain reflected in his eyes.

Blinking away the stinging tears, his muzzle contorted into a grimace as he whispered low enough that she couldn’t hear, “Sure, it’s not like I wouldn’t deserve it…”

Author's Note:

A/N: Uh oh, looks like the attack didn’t go quite as planned. I wonder how our heroes are going to overcome this unexpected challenge.

Spark: Whatever they’re going to do, they better do it soon! I don’t want my head to be used as a basketball.

Sky: Don’t worry, we’re coming for you. There’s nothing that can get between us, right girls?

Flitter: ...

Comments

[SamSwordsman123]

10488627
True.

[Stinium_Ruide]

Greetings from the My Little Reviews and Feedback group, have a review!

[SamSwordsman123]

10494795
No problem, I only got two chapters left before I catch up.