-Wait and watch

You take a deep breath as Spitfire and Rainbow Dash await your answer.

“We have to wait.” you say to their dismay.

“What?!” Spitfire hisses. “This… this is the perfect opportunity! Buck it, I’ll go alone if I have to. I can kill him before any of those scumbags even know I’m there!”

You shake your head. Something just doesn’t feel right. “No, just… just hold on. Please.” you plead.

Spitfire huffs and swears at you under her breath. Even Rainbow Dash moves away from you a little, severely disappointed by your decision. But you stay firm on your choice and continue to watch the griffons.

Almost an hour later the rest of the griffons emerge from the cave and one of them reports to Captain Ray. They talk for only a few moments before Ray signals for them to pack up and move into the cave. As the griffons collect their tools and supplies Ray reaches down by his chest and produces a small bone whistle attached to a string draped around his neck. He blasts three quick tweets into it and a large figure ascends into the sky from one of the mountains nearby. Both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash gasp in shock as they see a large dragon descend and land in front of Ray, but their hopes of seeing their tormentor killed by the ferocious reptile are crushed as the dragon begins speaking with Ray.

“We found what we were looking for. You’re not needed for over-watch anymore. Go over to the pony’s castle and make sure none of them leave the city for the next two days. Your debt is repaid after that.” Ray commanded.

Shockingly the dragon nodded and took off, headed for the Crystal Empire. Spitfire looked at you with terror and shock clearly in her eyes. “T-that was… he could have… if we…”

“Y-yeah.” you reply nervously, knowing exactly what she meant.

You feel Rainbow Dash move up against you for protection and feel a chill run down your spine as she speaks; “That’s the dragon who raped me.”

The pieces begin to fall into place once she confirms what you thought; Ray had the dragon watching from above, more than likely under orders to kill any ponies that followed the griffons. It was by pure chance that the dragon missed your small group while you searched for the griffons, but an attack on Ray’s group while they rested outside the caves would have certainly resulted in all your deaths. But now with the dragon gone from the area and the last griffon entering the cave, you determine that it is now safe enough to emerge from your hiding spot.

As you crawl forward you feel Spitfire place a hoof on your back. “Hey, look… I’m sorry about before.” she said meekly, knowing now that had she gone to attack Ray the dragon would have intercepted her before she could reach Ray.

“Don’t worry about it.” you reply. You continue forward with Spitfire and Dash following, making your way to the cave entrance. You sneak up on the mouth of the cave but it becomes quickly clear that Ray didn’t bother posting any guards. You figure that he either is overconfident that nopony would dare follow him or he’s too focused on finding Sombra’s horn. Whatever the reason, you find no evidence of any guards or traps, though you still take your time and move forward slowly.

After a few minutes of walking you see the tunnel open up into a large cavern. The large space seems more like a shrine as large banners sporting Sombra’s royal seal decorate the walls alongside carvings in the rock walls depicting some of the ex-king’s achievements. You don’t spend too long looking at the decorations as your attention is drawn to the far side of the cavern; you see the group of griffons once again splitting up into two groups and heading to two different exits. You have no idea where the two separate exits lead to, but by the sounds of their chatter neither do the griffons. You see Ray lead one group down the left tunnel while the other goes off to the right, once again leaving not a single guard behind to cover their backs.

Once the sounds of the two groups of griffons have died away you, Dash, and Spitfire emerge and enter the cavern. It is clear that Shining Armor was right; there are some crystal ponies who still secretly worship Sombra, and they made this makeshift temple to appease his spirit. Of course there’s no sign of those ponies anywhere, and you can only hope that they’re safely back in the Crystal Empire.

A quick search shows nothing of value to take, nor are there any signs of Sombra’s horn being here. “It must be farther down one of these routes.” you guess aloud. Looking at the two separate paths you see one is marked storage while the path Ray went down is heavily decorated, most likely leading to what he seeks. “It’s probably this way.” you say.

Just as you’re about to head down the pathway that Ray took, you look again at the path leading to the storage area. You note that the ceiling of the path has been heavily reinforced due to the ceiling being compiled of mostly loose rocks, but despite the strong supports it wouldn’t take much to cause a cave-in. Doing so would trap the griffons in there forever, causing them to live only as long as the unknown amount of supplies in there lasted them. But it would definitely be loud and alert Ray that something may be wrong.

Both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash see you eyeing the supports and guess the same thing you’re thinking. “You were right about not attacking Ray outside… it’s your choice.” Spitfire says submissively.

-Cause a cave-in and trap the griffons in the supply room.
-Don’t risk the noise and follow Ray.

Author's Note

So... I fucked up that last poll... forgot to take out the DEAD GIVEAWAY HINT... damnit...

Well, you'll have more fun with this one. I highly suggest you readers talk this out like you have been doing so BEFORE voting...

POLL CLOSES THURSDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING