Rarity made her way deeper into the cave, it soon gave way to a natural formation that was like a staircase. It curled downwards, deeper and deeper it went, so far that even the bottom could not be seen. In the centre of this structure was a waterfall, pouring down the entire pit to splash down into a pool that was merely a pinprick of light in the depths. The fall splashed against the stairs, singing its watery tune. She was astounded that such a place had only been seen by two other ponies.

"Twilight will love hearing about this, I bet you anything, Opal." Rarity continued on, placing one tentative hoof before the other, worried that it may be slippery. But she needn't have worried, for the structure was as solid as anything. Not even the water could slick it up.

Confident of her footing she gradually descended the stairs. Branches led off into the darkness at each turn, but somehow she knew that none of them would lead to her diamond. Though she couldn't help but wonder what could be waiting in the shadows. Opalescence had retreated into the bag when she noticed the waterfall getting her fur wet. Small annoyed growls came from within.

It felt like literally thousands upon thousands of stairs had disappeared behind her, yet still the pool didn't seem any closer. Rarity stopped every few hundred, making sure that down was still the way to go. At one stage she thought she could hear sounds, scuffling and organic sounds of something moving around. But the sounds faded just as soon as they came, like they were never there at all. She gulped loudly and chewed her lip.

"I'm sure it's nothing Rarity, just some little bugs or bats maybe. Stop being so paranoid, you're a lady! Not some scared little damsel!" She psyched herself up as best she could but still her stomach gurgled with unease.

Her paranoia eventually faded when she at last reached the bottom of the staircase, the pool wasn't just a tiny pond but a massive lake. The water glimmered a very deep, almost purple-blue. It looked as clear and beautiful as any ocean, she could even make out the tiny silver and gold fish that swam along the bottom. Rarity noticed a slight pillar of steam rising from the water and gingerly brushed the water with her hoof.

"Ooh!" It was hot, but not that scolding hot, that lovely temperate warmth of a bath. "It's so lovely, maybe I could stay for just a bit. Get the dirt out of my pores... Oh, who cares why!"

Rarity slid her saddlebags off her body and placed the torch beside it. Opalescence rolled her eyes, curled into a ball and went to sleep.

"Yes, I know... but it feels sooo good, Opal. It really does!" Rarity giggled, lowering herself into the lovely warm water. She shivered in delight as the water lapped over her. The fish swam up to her in curiosity, bumping against her legs.

"Oh, hello there fishies!" She sat against the edges of the lake and relaxed, feeling her former concerns simply float away. It had been quite awhile since her last luxurious bath. She made a mental note of how much better some bubbles and a loofah would be. Or even just some soap. All her worries were sapped away the longer she stayed in the water.

"No diamonds... no element business... no boys... no friends..." Rarity fell asleep as she listed off the worries she no longer had.

She floated there, dead to the world for quite awhile. Until she snapped awake from the sound of panicked meowing and the sound of bubbles gurgling violently around her. The lovely clear water had become a whirling torrent of violet water, the bottom had disappeared beneath the bubbles. On the other side of the lake the fish were crawling away from the water on tiny fin legs. Rarity's face fell as she saw what was transpiring. Terrified, she tried her best to crawl out of the water, but something held her back. She bucked her legs and tried her best to break free.

The bubbles continued to writhe and rise, higher and higher until an odd looking creature rose from it. It was slimy and pure black, covered in blue lights that shone brightly. A single yellow eye opened up in the centre of it, it watched her with greedy eyes. Rarity felt whatever it was dragging her closer to that singular eye. She threw a blue spear of magic at its eye but it swatted it away with a humongous fin. She tried again but still it failed.

The creature let out a watery laugh and rose higher, revealing a long mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. A long pink tongue stretched from its mouth all the way to the tip, that was currently wrapped around her hoof. It kept trying to swallow her but was struggling from her attempts to break free.

"Get your tongue off me, you filthy beast!" Rarity redirected her horn towards the tongue and squeezed it tight with magic. The creature roared in pain and anger, rolling itself around trying to break free.

Rarity squeezed ever tighter until the tongue was almost cut in half. The end slowly unraveled and eventually popped off her leg with a sloppy slurp. She grinned and released it, the tongue made a loud twang, retracting back towards its gaping mouth. It swung around and slapped its single eye, causing it to start crying. Tears flooded from its eye's, splashing loudly into the water.

"She told me you would be an easy meal, but you're just a mean little mare who hurts." The creature bawled in a slithery, fish-like voice.

Rarity pulled herself from the water, turning back to face the monster. "That's what you get for being a bully! Trying to eat a lady without asking, so very rude!"

"I'm sorry but she never feeds me, I'm absolutely starving... She's so mean to poor Sharkey!" He said, crying some more.

Rarity smiled to herself as she remembered a spell Twilight once taught her. She grabbed her very last cucumber sandwich and enveloped it with her blue magic. She strained and groaned until, poof! The sandwich grew to a huge size, a perfect fit for a hungry fish monster. She yelled out a simple yay that Fluttershy herself would be proud of. Rarity raised the sandwich and drifted it over to Sharkey, who eagerly took it between his fins.

He held it up and nibbled the corner. Sharkey's face grew into a large toothy grin. He ravenously devoured the rest of his sandwich. He finished every last bit of it, burped loudly, before turning back to Rarity with a satisfied smile. "You're the best pony I've ever met, I mean you're also the first I've ever met, but still. Those sandwiches were delicious, what was in it?"

Rarity smiled. "Cucumber, it's a vegetable we have on the surface."

"Then maybe I should become a vegetarian. It's the best thing I've ever eaten!" Sharkey scooped up the fish still flopping away and hugged them. "Now we can be friends!" The fish nodded despite being utterly petrified.

Rarity was satisfied she didn't need to hurt the creature, she always thought of herself as a pacifist. "I'm so glad we could come to such a friendly understanding. But do you know where the diamond is?"

Sharkey gently released his fish friends into the lake and thought deeply. "Hmmm, I don't know about any diamond but, there's the crystal cave down..." He looked around the cavern. "That-a-way!" He cried, pointing to a tunnel leading to the right.

"Thank you so very much. Be seeing you." Rarity wandered over to where he was pointing, turned around and waved sweetly to her newest friend. He eagerly waved back, blushing ever so slightly. Sharkey returned to his home beneath the water, to begin his first chapter in being a vegetarian monster.

Rarity was now over her dangerous predicament and happy to have a new friend, however unorthodox. She gathered up her bags and torch and set off down the tunnel she hoped would be the end of her adventure. The dark corridor leading towards the brilliant aqua-colored cave was rather creepy. She swore that several weird black shapes shifted within the shadows, but she put it down to tricks of the light.

The cavern quickly grew smaller and smaller until it was no higher then an average pony door. The light was almost blinding as her torch reflected off everything within the next cave. Rarity blew out the candle and stepped through the sort of door. The aqua light blinded her for several seconds before it started to dim. She held a hoof to her mouth.

"Oh my..."

What she saw was something she never could've imagined coming across. The room was covered from head to toe with crystals, the walls, ceiling and floor. All the same shade of brilliant aqua blue. It was extraordinary to see something like this buried so far beneath the ground, where shadows and giant fish call home. Rarity continued on, marvelling at the sheer beauty of it. Even Opalescence was enamoured by the bright color.  But then she began to get the creeps, as if she was missing something about these crystals.

"I don't know about you, Opal. But I think there's something strange about all this." She continued on and stopped when she came face to face with a sharp spade, held by a mare. The pony was clearly intact but frozen in place by a slight crystalline residue. Rarity stared at the figures cutie-mark and noticed the familiar twin shovels shown in the book.

"My word, it's Silver Spade! It's not just a legend then!" Rarity gasped at this revelation but stopped herself from celebrating just yet. "But why is she trapped in crystal?" It was then that she decided to look around her.

Suddenly it became all to clear, this was not the first time. All around this newer room were numerous kinds of creatures all stuck inside crystal prisons. From odd insects, strange ponies, small lizards, to some familiar faces, changelings, Diamond Dogs, even a single dragon. It was an underground graveyard of crystal. Though what had caused all this was beyond her. Rarity had never heard of such a thing, no creature or magical artifact. It was a very intriguing mystery.

"I don't know about you... but I don't think we should've come here, Opal." Rarity trotted backwards slowly, making sure not to bump anything. Unfortunately the door to the cavern was sealed over in crystal. She whirled around and smacked her hooves against it. It didn't even remotely budge, just let out a loud ringing. "Blast!"

She tried again but still it was useless. The crystal was clearly made of something too hard for a mere pony to shatter. Rarity sat down among the silent, formerly living statues. She thought about how exactly she could escape her newest predicament.

"Magic doesn't work against crystal, I know that much. I guess there's still one way... but deeper? What if that's worse then in here? At least it's bright..." As soon as Rarity said that, the room began to dim. "Oh, lovely..."

It dimmed until every crystal turned as dark as midnight. She sighed and relit her torch. Feeling there was literally nothing else she could do, Rarity rose to her hooves, stepping through the one tiny gap left between the crystals. It was an antechamber, but this was definitely not a natural formation. Green mist coiled around her hooves and a light buzzing filled the gargantuan room. Rarity trotted a little further inside, stopping when she heard a squish beneath her foot.

Looking down, she saw the innards of some bug covering the bottom of her hoof. She gagged and peeled away the gooey mass. She brushed it into the dirt. "Absolutely disgusting..."

A voice echoed across the room. "Oh I don't know, I find them quite delicious. They're very much like those sweets with the stuff in the middle."

"You!" Rarity exclaimed, finding herself held down by a familiar hue of magic.

"It's been awhile hasn't it, Rarity?"

And then the world went black.

Next Chapter: Familiar Fiends and Feldspars Estimated time remaining: 24 Minutes