>Take the sturdy rock path along the wall in the magma chamber
>Notice that a group of Diamond Dog guards are watching you and your friends from across the room
>Ask them some questions, receive no replies
>xXx Taunt the Diamond Dogs by blowing raspberries from a distance xXx
>** Walk out onto thinner bridge with Reinforced Boots equipped**
>Diamond Dogs launch spears at you and the CMC on your way to the next safe spot; your team avoids the spears and potential heatstroke during the first roll
>xXx Raisin is impaled with a Crystal Tipped Spear during the second roll xXx
>–Sprint and dash to cross a gap. Reinforced Shoes explode–
>Make it to safe spot, remove Crystal Tipped Spear, receive Group Hug
>**Let CMC travel across the next stone bridge first**
>Raisin and CMC are able to dodge explosive tipped spears and make it to a blue, glowing cave entrance
>Rover sees Raisin from across the lake. Initiate conversation
>–After much debate, Raisin convinces the Diamond Dogs that she can defeat the Boulder Snakes with their help. She tells them the leader has abundant treasures. For the price of taking a single treasure, she agrees to become Diamond Dog property… –
>Raisin receives 3 Expert Dig Dogs
>Venture into Blue Crystal Caverns
>Explore up a ramp to an orange lit room; discover a central hub of some sort
>**Discover that the blue pulsating crystals in this room have the ability to let Sweetie Belle temporarily use high level magic**
Standing in the midst of the path, Raisin, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and three armored Diamond Dogs let their eyes wander about the beautiful, glowing blue crystal caverns they’ve headed into. Knowing that certain peril lies in any direction forward, our team must swallow their fear and bravely press into the unknown if they ever hope to stop the Boulder Snakes from somehow causing a massive volcanic eruption.
With a path into a grand, central hub to their right, a dark, blue crystal lined path directly ahead and an obscured platform over a pit of deadly sharp blue crystal spikes, our heroes must make their next few actions with utmost caution.
The team hears a gurgling rumble from the lava lit chamber on the right.
“W…what was that?” Applebloom cranes her head around the side of a massive crystal, looking up at the doorway.
Inventory check:
As your group ducks behind a massive blue crystal and looks up to the gurgling, lava lit door up the ramp, you can't help but notice Sweetie Belle's head spinning in subtle circles.
"Hey… are you okay? How do you feel?"
She shakes her head back and forth. You see that her eyes lag a little bit. "Me? I'm feeling… dizzy…"
The room up the ramp erupts with noise again.
"…but… I'll be honest… I think it's just because I'm a little scared." She crouches up next to Applebloom and the cowering Diamond Dogs.
As your team keeps their eyes locked on the disturbing sounds from the room ahead, you scan the walls for a decently sized crystal to bring along with you. The orange light flickers against the pulsating blue, vitreous rocks. If you didn't feel like you were in very immediate danger, the display would be quite pleasing.
"Whoa… hey, we're not going up there, are we?" Scootaloo seems to have taken up a defensive position atop your back.
"No… I don't think so." You gently tap one of the larger crystals on the wall, trying your best to make a clean break. The first one shatters despite your best efforts. "I'm going to bring one of these with us. I think having some magic, even a single use spell, could save our tails up ahead." vScootaloo gulps. "So… we really are walking into a death trap, huh?" v"…not as long as I'm in charge we're not."
With another clink, you manage to chip off a sizely chunk of the glowing blue crystal. The broken end dances with little bolts of purple lightning before settling down. Dust begins to fall from the crystal.
You approach your group once more. As you sit down next to Sweetie Belle, you suddenly hear a voice faintly echo from the room ahead. It's too faint and distorted to make out clearly.
"Is that… is someone in there?" Applebloom steps out from behind the crystal.
"Here, Sweetie… hold onto this."
The light headed filly cranks her head back as you deposit the beautiful, glowing chunk of glassy crystal into her saddlebag. "Alright, Raisin… I hope… it helps us…" She stammers slightly amidst the quietly whimpering Dig Dogs around her.
You pass Applebloom as you venture up the slope. "You two gonna see who it is?"
You swallow hard, then nod. Scootaloo lays down on your back, then tightens her hooves around your neck. "Keep your ears open…"
Slowly and quietly, you tippy-hoof up to the doorway. The voice begins to become a bit clearer… it sounds vaguely familiar.
"That fool isssssssss going to get chamber duty for the nexxxxxxxxxt ccccentury!" A cackle of laughter bellows around the massive, stone chamber.
You carefully peek into the doorway, seeing a glowing trail of hot, molten stone leading into one of the massive doorways far below. The lava in the center of the room recollects and falls into the bowl like shape in the center.
"W-w-wh-what was that?" Scootaloo whispers.
As the lava seems to settle, it begins to rise again.
You pull away from the door a little. Immediately, you hear a blast in the next room followed by a loud, grinding noise. After a few seconds, you hear a soft gurgle followed by a single, quiet voice.
"I'm sssssssoo sssssorry, my Queen… I only wanted to pleasssssse Your Grace…"
"Silence. You shall take upon yourself the burden of preparing the new chamber room during the feast."
The second voice is strong and feminine… and vaguely familiar. It's answered with a hiss and followed by a much louder, more shrill one.
You can hear Scootaloo breathing a bit more shallow into your ear. The voices continue.
"Move, foolish worm." The Queen's voice is much quieter as she speaks. You can hear the lava crackling as it seems to roll upon cold stone. Following the crackle, a slightly louder grinding almost immediately fades into a silence.
You very slowly crane your head around the side of the doorway. You can see two distinct trails heading into two separate doorways. On one of the doors, it appears as though lava has been spattered all over it. The speckled orange magma simmers on the colder wall.
Scootaloo shivers on your back. "…are… those…B..Boulder Snakes?"
You take a deep breath and exhale, trying to calm yourself. "Yep."
As you turn, you notice that Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and your Diamond Dogs have appeared just behind you. "…how big are they?"
"I… didn't see. They're going to be huge, though."
"And ya'll got a plan to beat them silly?" Applebloom looks at you with certain worry.
"Sure do." You turn to the Dig Dogs. "Dogs, do you know how deep we are?"
One of the dogs looks up at the ceiling, sniffs the air, then holds his wrist as if taking his pulse. He turns his armor plated arm over, then scratches out some weird symbols on it. After what looks like some serious thinking, he nods, then shows you a number.
"…172… what is that? 172 what?"
The second symbol next to the numbers looks like an oblong, rectangular '0'.
Considering the Diamond Dog's measurements and the fact the chamber below seems pretty active with Boulder Snake activity, you look down from atop your bluff and back down into the blue, crystal strewn chamber.
"Alright… I think our safest bet is to just push forward and head deeper into the cavern."
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stand by your sides and look down into the dark tunnel. You can hear both of them gulp.
"Are you sure about this, Raisin?" Sweetie squeaks.
"Trust me. If we can navigate through here and find a shallow spot in the ceiling, we can take these guys out once and for all."
You turn to your Dig Dogs. They seem to have calmed down a little bit, but they remain as stoic as ever. "Let me know if the ceiling gets any thinner along the path ahead, alright?"
The dog that previously took the measurement nods.
You lead your group down the slope and back onto the main path. As you start drawing closer to the darkness, you can see the color of the crystal on the ground fade into a stony gray.
Applebloom sets the Lamp down while Sweetie refills it. The little unicorn takes Applebloom's Stompstarter and gets the small, flickering flame lit.
You let Applebloom go ahead and take the lead. She carries the little Lamp by the ring and bravely walks forward. You follow close behind, admiring the dark, nearly pitch black stone that covers the walls.
"It's kinda hard to see anything… what is this stuff?" Scootaloo looks about at the void like stone. The light doesn't seem to reflect off of it easily. Only a few spots reflect the light, giving the tunnel a faint resemblance of a clear night sky.
"I have no idea… there seems to be a ton of weird stuff down here."
As your team traverses the black corridor, your hoof kicks up against a pebble. The little stone tumbles off into the darkness. You can hear it bounce a little ways, then suddenly stop.
"WOMPH! HMMF! STMMPH!" Applebloom mumbles around the ring in her mouth.
You stop behind Applebloom, noticing that she's clearly shaken by something. "Everyone, hold up a second…"
Scootaloo looks ahead. "What's wrong, Applebloom?"
You see her moving her head up, down, and side to side. She sets the Lamp down. "There's somethin' down there…"
"Down?"
You very carefully come up on Applebloom's side. There's about a foot of ledge between you and a sizely fall. Far down below, you can't see anything moving at all… until Applebloom moves the lamp.
The entire floor looks like it shifts slightly, morphing as the light moves. Faintly, you can see another shape down in the darkness. A large chestplate seems to hang from one of the walls… it looks like it used to belong to a Diamond Dog. It's the only thing that doesn't move.
"That doesn't look good…" Scootaloo gulps. "Should we… turn back?"
Sweetie Belle is surrounded by the Diamond Dog trio. She seems perfectly content being squished between the three dogs. She remains quiet, simply looking your way.
You can faintly see a path leading around the side of this pit… you think.
"…did you ever send any Diamond Dogs down here… by any chance?"
One of the dogs nod.
"How many?" You address the dog that nodded.
He holds up a paw, indicating three, then drops a finger, counts the two still up, and puts his third finger back up.
"…did they ever come back?"
He shakes his head, then tries to mimic a hissing noise.
Looking to the right of the pit, you see a path that seems to lead around whatever this pitfall area seems to be. "No Scootaloo… we can't just go back. We can take that path over there around the pit…"
Applebloom picks up the Lamp, watching as the substance down below tumbles to follow her light. She looks at you with certain fear before slowly marching ahead.
"Alright… everyone, just keep close and move slow. We're almost out of here…"
You feel Scootaloo pull herself against you. The burly Diamond Dogs have to press their backs into the wall in order to shimmy across.
As you and your team begin to slide along the thin path along the outside of the pit, you think you see a crystal moving on the wall ahead. It moves very slowly, but appears to follow the Lamp light. Applebloom doesn't seem to notice it.
A chill runs up your spine.
You've come to trust the feeling in your gut after so much adventuring. "Applebloom… stop. Stop…"
Her slow trot comes to a complete halt. You feel your team sliding up into you.
"Hey! Everyone, stop a second…" You keep your eyes fixed ahead. The crystal appears to still be moving, but you're not completely sure.
"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle stands between the shaky dogs.
"Set the Lamp down for a second… everyone, just back up a few steps…"
Applebloom sets it down, then quivers as she steps back. "W-what? Ah knew we shouldn'ta went this way… whaddya see, Rai…" She starts moving back faster. Her tail smashes into your face.
"Back up back up back up" Applebloom seems to have noticed the moving crystal as well.
Scootaloo shakes her head. "What in Celestia's name is that?"
The Crystal comes up alongside the Lamp, then stops. In a moment, you see the floor and wall next to the Lamp rise up fast, then flatten out into it's previous shape. The Lamp jumps into the air and falls down into the center of the pitfall.
Applebloom shrieks, backing up against you and crouching down.
The last bit of light you see is the Lamp exploding on what looks like a set of obsidian spikes. The cavern is now completely pitch black… you cannot see one another. The pitfall makes an awful sloshing sound as the light fades away.
The moving crystal begins glowing blue, then slides up out of the way. The light is very faint, not allowing you to see the path ahead.
Scootaloo grabs onto you tighter. Applebloom doesn't move.
"Applebloom…" You carefully step around the filly as she hugs the ground. "…I'll take a few steps ahead. Stay close, but give me some room to jump back if I need to…"
Scootaloo taps on your neck. "Are you nuts?! Didn't you just see what happened to the Lamp?"
"Well, yeah… I think the crystal thing hates light. We should be able to get by it now that the light is gone…"
Scootaloo hangs on tight. "You better be right."
Once you get in front of Applebloom, you stare up at the blue crystal on the wall. "Applebloom, go ahead and pass the rope around. Me and Scootaloo are going to go ahead…"
"Ya better get ready to jump back…" You can hear her uncoiling the rope as you take a few steps forward.
The blue crystal doesn't seem to react to your presence. Looking straight up underneath it, you see something almost fleshy connected to it.
"Where are you Raisin?" You hear Applebloom call out to you as if you're in the pitfall. Looking about, you cannot see much of anything, but the orange glow ahead seems to be a bit closer.
You turn back, now nearly around the odd pitfall. "I'm up here. I think it's safe… have you tied the rope around yourselves?"
"We're carryin' it in our teeth… should be fine, right?" You can hear her put the rope back into her mouth.
"Yeah, should be alright… hey dogs? Can you see anything in the dark?"
The trio simply barks.
"…is that a yes or a no?"
The glowing crystal above your head doesn't appear to be moving around whatsoever. You tremble a little, relieved that your theory proved itself correct.
"Alright, Scoots… everything looks safe ahead. Jump down and grab the rope by Applebloom. I'll jump in right behind ya…"
"What? You want me to lead the way?" She asks in wonderment. "You serious?"
"Well… yeah, it should be safe…"
"Maybe if I were made of solid granite I'd say yeah, but…" To say the least, she doesn't sound emphatic about your plan.
"Trust me on this. If you have the rope and I'm right behind you, there's no way you can fall into anything. I've got your back. If I were to fall with the rope attached to me… well, that would be bad news." You blindly slide up next to her worried eyes hanging in the dark. "See what I'm sayin'?"
She groans. "You owe me big… you know I- Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are terrified down here."
In a few moments, she hops off your back, then returns with the end of a rope. She jumps up ahead of you, avoiding contact with the blue crystal above. You hear it jitter when she gets near it.
"Okay… press onward, Scoots…"
As your team marches ahead, you can feel them all moving in a solid train. With a few pairs of blue lights ahead on either side of the starry cavern, the orange light feels as welcoming as a sunrise.
Suddenly, you hear the dogs whine as the tunnel shifts. The rope becomes taught behind you.
"Raisin! Help!!" Sweetie Belle calls out between the scared whimpers of the Dig Dogs.
You begin pulling on the rope, hoisting your small unicorn friend up out of the hole. You assume the Diamond Dogs must be hanging on as well… the end of the rope has quite a bit of weight.
Suddenly, you hear Scootaloo call out from your side. "Wh-whoa! Stop! There's ano-"
With the scuffle of loose rocks, you feel Scootaloo's end of the rope tighten up as well. She shrieks from behind the rope between her teeth.
Taking a fast look up, you see the blue glowing crystal has disappeared. After a second, a blue glow begins to reappear on the dark wall.
You continue hoisting up on Sweetie Belle's side. With a few steps, you feel your end of the rope slacken back up. A small plop is heard as some shuffling hooves head your way. Suddenly, you feel something bump into you, then climb up on your back. A set of hooves wrap around your neck.
You pull up on Scootaloo's side, hearing her still panicking down in the pit. From behind you, Applebloom keeps tugging on the rope to try and help you, though to no avail. A couple sets of legs run up next to you. In a few seconds, Scootaloo's screams intensify, then die out.
"Wh… ugh…" Scootaloo sounds like she's talking with her nose plugged up. "Thank you… dog?"
A bark rings out.
Everyone sounds as though their safe at the moment… the orange glow ahead beckons for the presence of your weary team.
"We've gotta get over there… it's so close." Your hooves start pattering against the stony, pitch black floor below. Suddenly, you hear something hit your chest. It attempts to push you back, but cannot move you.
You can hear one of the dogs growling softly as he tries to direct your head to the right.
Sweetie Belle remains silent on your back.
"What's goin' on? Raisin, why ain't we movin'?" Applebloom's hooves kick around, searching for the rope again. "Everyone got the rope?"
"No… and put me down, already." You hear a set of hooves clink against the ground.
Unsure of whatever this thing pressing into your chest happens to be, you assume that it must be hostile. You lift your leg up and give it a pound against your chest. Suddenly, you hear one of the dogs yelp loudly in pain.
"Oh… uh… it was one of your hands?"
The dog continues yelping. You're quite sure he's jumping up and down in place.
"What happened? Raisin? What did you do?"
You hear a loud ting of armor against your head, followed by a low, angry growl.
"Hey… look, I said I was sorry. I thought the floor or something was trying to push us off into the hole."
The dog snarls a bit in response, then sighs.
Looking about the crystal near where Scootaloo fell off, you can see a sudden drop in the path. It seems to take a quick left away from the way beyond the blue crystal. Though it's hard to see, it looks like there's solid ground just beyond it.
"Scootaloo… did you happen to bump into this crystal? The one ahead of us?"
"No… I don't think so, at least. The path just stopped, but I slipped off the edge."
"Sorry to do this to you again… but…"
"Yeah, yeah… I get it. I'm the trap bait. Somepony's gotta do it, right?" Scootaloo pops up and flutters onto your back. She lands on Sweetie with a small squeak. "Oh… sorry Sweetie Belle…"
The little unicorn grabs onto you tighter. "I-it's fine…"
With the end of the rope in her mouth, Scootaloo deftly continues onto the narrow bridge ahead. It's nearly impossible to see. You hear her hooves slip a few times as she crosses. With the orange light just ahead, you feel a wave of anxiety wash over you.
"Hey! I think I made it!" Scootaloo's hooves tap against what you think is solid stone.
"Alright… hang on, we're comin'. Guys, just follow the rope. There's a sharp turn left up ahead…"
As you begin shuffling onto the pathway, you can feel it crack slightly.
You freeze up a little when you hear the cracking. Immediately, you switch your light walking to a shuffle as you try to coast across the bridge as quickly as possible. You can feel your team being tugged a little as they follow.
"Ya shufflin' up ahead, Raisin?" Applebloom asks. Your hooves scrape up the rock pretty aggressively, but at least it keeps your weight constant.
In a matter of moments, you can hear Scootaloo tapping your side. "Alright! We haven't fallen through the floor, so the ground is definitely solid here. C'mon over, quick!"
Sweetie Belle hops off of your back. "Whew… let's get out of here…"
You begin winding the rope up as Applebloom makes it across. As the three dogs begin crossing the bridge, you see the blue crystal behind them disappear. As they get nearly half-way across the bridge, you can see the wall near the crystal jut out. The rope grows taught for a moment, but then slack as the trailing dog scratches his way up onto the platform.
"Are ya okay?" Applebloom calls out from your side, refusing to go back into the darkness without the aid of the rope.
A small bark fills the cavern as the dogs make their way over the bridge.
Immediately, your team begins walking toward the orange glow ahead. As they near it, it looks as though they simply pop out of the shadows. Scootaloo covers her eyes as the bright light covers your team once again.
"What's it look like?"
"Uhm… Ah'm not sure we're any safer…" Applebloom crouches down. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle follow suite. Turning to the right, you can see that the end of the tunnel opens up into an absolutely massive magma chamber.
You can see Boulder Snakes moving along paths carved into the walls, much like the one you're on.
"So… you said you knew how to beat these things?" Scootaloo looks over the expanse of passageways before your team.
The end of this path seems to turn onto one of the main paths. You should be able to travel left or right.
"…how thick is the ceiling in this chamber?"
One of the dogs rubs his paw. He gives you a scowl, then looks up at the chamber ceiling. Sniffing the air and taking his pulse, he starts carving some numbers into his armor using one of his unkempt claws. His head pulls back in astonishment as he redoes his calculation.
He flips the armor piece toward you.
"…55? I don't know how deep that is, but it's a lot, lot less than in the previous few rooms. Are you certain?"
He shrugs.
You look up, then rub your chin. "Do you think you boys could dig up through that and set some Boom-Boom Sticks?"
One of the dogs nod.
"Would it bring the ceiling down?"
"You plan on blowing this place up!?" Scootaloo looks at you with astonishment. "…that's awesome!"
"But… how's that gonna stop a buncha rock eatin' snakes? Can't they just nibble their way out?" Applebloom inquires.
"All we gotta do is make a skylight. As soon as the sun pours in, the snakes will all freeze up."
"And three sticks of dynamite is going to bring THAT roof down?" Sweetie Belle looks up at the massive dome.
You look over at the dogs. "…will it?"
They shrug.