A Gear, A Nut, and an Apple: A Hunt for a Crystal (ATTN: Steeleagle and Dubstep!)

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack was gonna stretch a little, just to ensure that she didn't fail a bit heavy and such. Celestia knows that ever since Rainbow knocked her up she was having some manner of difficulty getting herself ready for much physical activity aside from work. Swollen ankles, enlarged teats, and a whole host of aches and pains got in the way of her proper physical lifestyle. Well, it would get in the way had she not been as stubborn as...well, an Apple. They weren't known for kicking back and allowing pregnancy to keep them down. All it meant was she was gonna have to stretch a bit more and get herself in the mood and groove for moving and grooving. The little feller was ready and willing to go- he was just the most precious little foal she ever did see. Well, she was saying that a lot lately. It was a hard time to be Apple Bloom.

 

But just as she was about to cut a rug and do so fiercely, Bevel came in and suggested she bone on off to where she could watch and make sure everything was peachy keen. Well, that was a downer. She was really looking forward to getting a bit physical! Still, she supposed there was some sweet logic to what she was saying. Somepony needed to keep watch and if they needed to act fast, having Bevel 'half the words spoken no one else understands" Gears up there could prove disastrous. Applejack sighed and stopped stretching, deciding to take her place. It was Bevel's little expedition, so she got to make the decisions. For now. "All right, Ah guess. Ah'll just be up here an'...watch. Don't go steppin' on him, ya hear?" She said as she passed Bevel, "Ah'll be watching y'all from up here! Be safe now!" She said, taking her position and excited- dulled- to see what the heck thisn was all about.
 

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Dancing with a colt... this was going to be a strange experience. Bevel herself hadn't even danced with a fully grown stallion or a more save for her mother and father as a filly. "Well zhen." She moved to the start of the rather ridiculous puzzle, "I hope you're at least practiced enough to stop on a bit." The dreaded mare stretched a few times, a few cricks from her form intruding on the rhythm of the stones. Aunty Gwynne would probably not like hearing about this even so Bevel igured she'd have to keep this under her ha- er Bandana for the time being.

 

Hearing the slightly disappointed tone in Applejack's voice gave her pause, "Mer-- Sorry, Applejack. I'm certain places like zhis usually have at least zhree trials to get zhrough. The next trial is sure to be yours." 

 

"Just follow my lead, Macadamia." the fancy pony's hoof began to tap carefully in sync with the beat, "If we don't get it right we'll likely both experience intense discomfort." Bevel moved forward carefully and brought him on to the first dancing tile. the music picked up it's tempo and several of the tiles lit up.One was yellow, a shade matching the inventor's eyes. The tiles in front of mac then turned prussian blue. Bevel tugged mac along gently for the first few steps. Whenever their hoofs met their respective tiles small magical bolts fired from the other side of the wall, encouraging them to take a kind of pose to avoid the magic. Seeing as bevel was more interested in both her and mac's well being the poses she pulled the colt into were rather close by equestrian standards: More than a few times, Mac was left pressed against her and then twirled in place... this process was repeated abotu five times until the end was reached.

 

Upon reaching the last tile the music beat dropped for one last rapid magical burst in the shape of a certain pose's outline... this would be close. Even bevel didn't see the shift coming and she wasn't sure she could properly lead in time...

 

 

[Dubstep]

Taking a moment to get the beat down pat in his head, Macadamia nodded as he took Bevel's hoof. Dancing was far from his talent, and he'd certainly not really win any contests. But he knew how to follow a lead at least "Sure thing, Miss Bevel, ain't nothin to worry about!" The young colt managed to not get hit by the beams of magic as they shot out and he was pulled to and fro by his dance partner. Though he did feel the wind off of one or two now and again. The dance started off pretty normal. Like your average waltz, but as they got closer and closer to the end it became much more lively and required a lot of spins and pressing against one another to avoid the barrages of bolts blasting from the other end. He couldn't help but to blush a bit, dancing with family was one thing, but this was a bit embarrassing!

It did look like it was nearly as the lights on the door seemed to glow indicating their progress. Press, twirl, step. Press, twirl, step. Once you got into the rhythm and poses, the bolts became a non-issue. Though as the music reached its crescendo and the two assumed the dance over, one last stream of bolt appeared and launched their way out! Mac gave a quick glance to Bevel, who seemed to be a bit winded and unsure. Rather than risk the chance of either of them winding up in pain, the colt tugged her hoof and spun her around, dipping her low and bumping muzzles with her just as the magic grazed past them!...With a little chime, the doors opened up to reveal an elevator.

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack watched the pair dance with no small amount of excitement. She loved herself a good hoedown after all and what better time to break off a few moves in the middle of a good old fashioned adventure? Of course she couldn't. That would have been too dang nice and she was learning fast that you didn't get anything you wanted. She was fine with that in the long run, however- as Bevel said, there were multiple trials and no doubt she'd have a part to play in at least one of them going forward. She hoped so, anyway! She watched the pair dance and she watched the walls and floors of the place as the dancing slowly but surely put everything in place.

 

There was a close call with the magic as the two tangoed pretty well, revealing in the end an elevator. Applejack shot up and bounded towards the elevator to inspect it. Granted, no expert in the arcane or nothing similar but she wasn't struck by fifteen arrows or somesuch so she felt safe in declaring it good to go. She turned back to the two, giving pause to allow them to untangle from one another. “Alrighty you two, looks like it's all ready and raring to go. Ah'll take tha lead once we get down there, see if there is any of that tomfoolery goin' on,” she said, taking her place inside the elevator. She looked around and saw several symbols, pretty clearly marked. Well, going down was always a good idea in an adventure.

 

When everypony was in, awkwardness and all, she hit the button and the elevator started to descend rapidly. No music or anything to accompany them. "So...have fun there, Mac?"

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

Bevel carefully let her dance partner go, she seemed a bit flushed from the experience. How long had it been since she last moved like that? Far too long was the most likely answer to be frank. The days when she used to dance with such energy had ended long ago when she first moved to Aquellia, as a result suddenly feeling the rush of endorphins was somewhat disorienting. So much in fact that she was left staring off into space in a daze for a few seconds before she regained enough presence of mind to release her dance partner. 

"Ah... Pardon."  She said as she took note of Applejack's inspection of the elevator, "Very well, Manquer Applejack. When we get down I'll watch our rear in case somezhing tries to ambush us. One never knows in these places." 

 

The inventor took a spot in the elevator opposite Applejack, likely leaving a spot between the two for mac in the slightly small elevator. Once the button was pushed, there was the sound of smooth stone meeting and grinding while the chamber descended deeper down below. The silence in this small patch o space was only adding to the hefty awkwardness in the air, thankfully it was broken by a simple question from AppleJack, one which was followed up by two questions from Bevel shortly after.

 

"Are you alright? No scuffs or burns?"

 

[Dubstep]

That was quite possibly the strangest and most fun round of fancy dancing that Macadamia ever had to do! Okay maybe the time that one of his older cousins made him wear a dress to make it more 'authentic' still held the strangest, it was still the most fun! The colt did manage a little blush when it took the mare a bit longer than normal to let go. Then again he was the one that dipped her, so really it took him a bit to let her up.

Mutual embarrassments aside, Macadamia trotted in behind the two and took his place between the mares. The elevator ride was...well it was an elevator ride. Not like ones he had been on in Manehattan, this was even MORE boring without that droning elevator music."Huh? Oh! Yeah I'm alright. Ain't a scratch on me!" he replied with a grin. "Was a lot more fun 'n I was expectin too. Maybe would'a been more fun without the threat of a concussion by magic missile though."

[SteelEagle]

The elevator went down with increasing speed, the descent being aided by the sheer impetus of adventure. Both of them got out of their somewhat awkward interactions to only become even more awkward once inside the silence of the elevator. That was fine. Little fellas like Mac there always seemed so twittered and twattered around pretty mares like Bevel. It was a defect in their kind, she thought jokingly. Besides, she suffered from the same when she was young! Miss Praire Tree had received more than one Hearts and Hooves Day card from her developing student. She took it with great aplomb, that aging bombshell probably having half a dozen students crushing on her at any one time. Probably why her class was so well behaved, come to think of it...anyway. The elevator continued to descend and she noted that both were fine. "Good, 'cause Ah'm sure whatever is comin' next won't be so pleasant. They always seem to go this way- some silly little events, some awful ones. Maybe something mind altering, you never know," she said, though the pep in her voice betrayed how excited she was.

After what seemed like three moments past too long, the elevator came to a sudden stop, causing Applejack to stumble. The door flew open into a dark room shrouded in mist, a cold chill flowing through the room and into the elevator. The room was lined with old marble and stone, with the only point in view being a small pedestal. From that pedestal shot out the only source of light in the room, a blue-white straight line that shot off into three different directions. The first line went into the darkness to the east side, up and above what appeared to be a landing heading to a second floor. The second line terminated in a wall to the west, also sending itself into the darkness. The third landed maybe ten feet above the elevator directly above. In each case, the line gave off no light once it left the first pedestal. At the end of the room, directly across from the elevator entrance, was a door that was heavy in dust. "Well, this looks excitin'," Applejack said as she trotted into the room, excited to investigate the pedestal. It looked like all the lines coming from the pedestal started off in one light blue ball which glowed excitingly. Across the pedastal, words: "Hmm...'when tha three make one, no foe may stand in their way'? Well, seems simple enough ta me! Well, assumin' we can get ta where tha lines end, of course."

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Bevel cleared her throat a moment, "Ah, Tres Bien. I'm sure you'll find someone who will prove a better dance partner and in less dangerous circumstances." She said with a sigh of relief. The prench pony bit her lip and took a deep breath to calm her nerves in this cramped little elevator while it descended.  As much as she wouldn't want to admit it, Bevel enjoyed that previous dance. It was an exhilarating experience. Sharing it with a young colt though felt a little odd, even if he was approaching stallionhood.

 

Applejack's excitement was more easily noticeable despite the warning, surely brought on by her experience. This device was curious, a light beam type of puzzle? Maybe if she'd brought some mirrors there could have been a way to fool with this. Seeing as Bevel didn't carry such things for this trip they'll have to stick to the path the ruins presented them with. "So  She need to try and bring all the lights together into one... Sounds easy enough I Zhink. I'll... try for the one above. I know a spell that can at least soften my fall in case something goes wrong."

 

 

[Dubstep]

Grownups, always worrying about something! Sure there was probably gonna be a lot more traps, and yeah they'd probably only get tougher and tougher from here on out, and yeah maybe there'd even be monsters! But what's the use in frettin over it before it even happens? Sure the saying goes 'hope for the best, expect the worst' but ain't it better to just to plan out when you know what you're facing rather than over plan? And was debating on if it was better to plan in the now or plan ahead in and of itself over planning? Before he could overthink his overthinking however, the elevator stopped and the door flew open into, you guessed it, another dark room!

Another puzzle of sorts it seemed. A pedestal and beams of light. The point was probably to figure out how to get the beams all aimed at the door. Whatever was down here must be super ultra important or dangerous to put behind all these silly puzzles and whatnot. "Reckon then I'll take the one headin west. Bet we gotta make em all hit the door. Wonder if'n there's gonna be some sorta' slide puzzle or mirror puzzle or somethin. S'alot like one'a them choose your own adventure books down here!"

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack studied the paths and came to much the same conclusion as the young colt did. The three lights likely needed to terminate in the door leading away from them, deeper inside. It would make sense. Bevel decided to take the one above the elevator. Made sense, what with her being able to soften her fall and all. The other fella decided to head off into the darkness. She was less than okay with this, but he had proven a bundle of adventuring fun so far so she a little less concerned than she probably ought to be. That left just one. "Sounds like a plan! Ah'll go ahead an' take tha one that looks like there's a landin' under it above tha other door. Shouldn't take too long!" she said with a lot of chipper enthusiasm in her voice as she bounded towards her target.

 

It took longer than she'd like to admit. For the most part once you passed the immediate area around the orb the ground was uneven and not well taken care for. It was made to break ankles, it seemed. Fallen pillars and huge gaps which forced her to make big jumps were all somewhat common in such a seemingly small space. After a few minutes of jumping and leaping in the dark she made her way to the landing where she saw the light seemingly re-emerge and terminate in the wall. She approached and inspected it before shrugging. There was only one way to see how crazy this day could get! She pressed her hoof against the wall and felt it give in, the stone block a panel of some sort. After a second there was a loud click.

 

Then all of the stone blocks in front of her, sans the one she pressed, started to flip and turn over. She backed up in alarm and watched. On the opposite were images, or parts of images. They were out of place. Above the five by five square of images and half-images were two...counters? One counting down with a heavy aethric tock. The other one ticked whenever she moved one of the stone panels. Huh..."thar's two clocks! One, uhh, looks like y'all have limited moves ta make an...image, Ah guess. The other one is an honest to goodness time limit!"

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Bevel's horn would soon light up to magically push a button on her saddlebags. Seeing as her own personal magical capabilities weren't very developed, she didn't trust herself to attempt self-propelled magical flight. Once the button had been pressed a pair of magi technological arms would extend from her bags and then fan out into some rotor blades. They were fairly silent as they began to spin, in time fast enough that it lifted up the inventor towards the light up above the elevator to inspect what she'd found. 

 

Once she'd reached the point where the light hit the wall, She'd found a series of dials with the light actually meeting some curious dome. In the interest of science (and furthering this adventure) She began tinkering. She carefully turned one of the dials above nad the done shifted and rolled to reveal a sort of convex lens out of some strange material. As she moved the dials the lens would shift in its socket and the light beam would seem to shift and move all about the room in unison.

 

She called down to her companions, "I've certainly got some kind of mirror puzle up here. Mostly a bunch of dials, seemingly for angling the light."

 

 

[Dubstep]

 

A picture puzzle and a mirror puzzle huh? Just who made this place? A Golden Age Comics character? Macadamia shook his head as he made his way towards his own destination, which at this point he was sure would have some sorta brainscratcher waiting for him. And sure enough he was right. By the pedestal sat four coloured buttons and a fifth clear button in the center. Counters, much like Applejack had described sat nearby, one with a timer and another that had three Xs and three check marks dimmed out on it.

Scratching the back of his head, the young colt looked over the gizmo. This was gonna be one of those 'nothing ventured nothing gained' sort of situations, he was sure. Pressing the four coloured buttons did nothing, however pressing the clear one sat the time running and soon one of the coloured one flashed. "Ooooh, I gotcha!" with a grin he pressed the button that had lit up. A soft little chime played and a sequence of two went off. Macky copied them, and again with four...and then eight...By the time it had reached sixteen though, the colt lost track and missed a beat. Causing the first red X to pop up on the counter. Nothing bad seemed to happen though, as the timer was still ticking away. The pattern started back over at one and continued on.

Once again though the sixteen pattern threw him off. Another red X. That's okay! They often say that the third time was the charm. Lucky for him he finally managed to earn a green check mark! The clear button flashed once and when pressed a new sequence started up, this time going faster, much to Macadamia's chagrin. The sixteen pattern once again threw him off and the third red X filled the bar, resetting the timer back to full but resetting his progress too. But not just that either. The sound of a buzzer sounded through the room resetting the progress and the timers of the other two. Near to each pony's puzzle a panel lit up. The panels each showed a little mock up of the race they were before it rapidly started to cycle through a number of different races. Eventually the cycling slowed to a stop. For Macadamia the picture landed on a Minotaur. For Applejack, a griffon. And for Bevel, a Giraffe. When the cycling had stopped, a pulse of magic shot forth from each of the panels at the puzzled participants.

Mac clenched his eyes closed expecting the worst...But it didn't feel painful, just an odd fuzzy tingling that shot through him. Looking himself over, everything seemed to be fine...except that his right hind leg had changed into a much more bovine appearance. "What in sam hill?!"

 

[SteelEagle]

Applejack may not have been the most puzzle-accomplished mare in the world, but she sure as shine was good enough at seeing patterns and images to know what this was asking of her. She took her time but kept herself consistent with the clock mechanism, neither rushing or putting it off. She guessed she had enough time to get it done should everything go well. She moved pieces into place and saw an image come to form in front of her. She never knew that such traps existed in the ancient past. Then again she wasn't much of an adventurer. Maybe Twilight- well no maybe, Twilight definitely would have done this by now. Rainbow Dash likely would have just moved too fast, thought too little, and failed. No, her pace was just fine.

 

It was then that something happened. A flash of magical light engulfed her, blinding her briefly as she wondered what the hay was going on. It ended as soon as it began, though that was just the start of the weirdness.  She felt her paws and claws as clear as day, and looked at them not with as much shock as could be expected but confusion. “What in the name of Equestria is goin' on here?!” She asked, voice more perturbed than angry. She staggered drunkenly away from her puzzle, the clock still ticking as she looked at the others- okay, well, somepony had messed up and this was some kind of defense mechanism, because they were all different species. Bevel had the worst of it though-

 

-Kathunk behind her as the whole puzzle reset itself. Applejack looked at it with a sense of shock and anger. She had been so close! This thing wasn't just gonna change them and screw with them, but was gonna do it in such a way as to make the puzzle harder. That was by itself an infinitely frustrating mess. But as she made her way back, determined but tripping over her new body parts, she knew that she didn't have much leeway. She was pregnant. She wasn't sure what sort of magic  was causing  this to happen, but she was sure that it wouldn't work out well for the foal gestating inside of her. "Hey, stop playin' games," she bellowed to nopony in particular, angry at thh cosmos more than anything. "Ah'm pregnant ahn' Ah'm not foolin' around with ya!"

 

she approached the puzzle once more, curses aflame under her breath as she went back to it.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

The sound of clicking brought a smile to the inventor's face, "I think we may have sol--" Suddenly there was light! A great flash pulsed over Bevel as she hovered in place. When she opened her eyes... she was not only at floor level but upside down. "Uh..."The prench mare looked down, meaning up, and saw a long neck stretching upwards. Her body was still hovering up a distance above her with the hover rotors spinning away. "Well, this is less than Ideal." A spark of magic grew on her horn and turned a dial on her harness up above. The copter-pack's blades slowing and the rest of Bevel descending as she tried to right herself.

 

She couldn't very well correct the device if she couldn't see it. Her lungs fill as she took in a deep breath, taking much longer than usual thanks to the much longer throat air needed to travel through.

 

"Is everyone okay?!"

 

 

[Dubstep]

This places was getting stranger and stranger. First dancing, then puzzles, and now this? Macadamia shook his head and looked his leg. Giving a tentative poke, he wasn't too surprised that he felt it. But land's sake! Who built these contraptions and why? Defense against trespassers was one thing, but this was somethin else! And from the sound of it he wasn't the only one that get messed around with. "Yeah! I'm alright over here. Just uhhhh...dealin with a sudden..change is all." the colt replied.

Rubbing his chin, Macadamia sat down. 'Alright, maybe if I just wait til Applejack and Bevel have their puzzles finished, they can come and help me with this'n. Darn thing gets goin so fast I can't even keep up...'[/b] he thought to himself. This contemplation was broken, however, by the sound of a buzzer. Snapping his head up, Macadamia looked behind him...he had sat on the buttons. "Ah dangit..." The panels didn't change but once again a magical pulse shot forth and zapped each of the ponies and this time changed even more of their bodies. Both of Mac's hind legs were now that of a Minotaur's, and a pair of bullhorns rested on his head. "This is gettin a might ridiculous! he hollered, trying his best not to topple over with the new added weight AND the awkwardness of a new pair of legs...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack didn't bother responding. She was done playing games with this stupid puzzle. It was an affront and a dangerous path to trod since she was pregnant. The possible outcomes for continued failure for her were darker and less fun by the moment and she wasn't going to regret helping a friend today. It was a bit powerful, wasn't it? Ancient ruins might have had secrets worth keeping but this sort of magic was powerful and extreme considering the target of today's expedition. Applejack didn't waste another second as she started looking at every little detail. She went to work quickly on the puzzle. She wanted to be out of here fast and she wanted to be out of here safely, and neither thing could be accomplished while she fooled around.

 

The only real advantage was that the puzzle, while shifted around, was the same one. It was easy to see that the pieces wanted to be in the same places and the number of moves she had to finish it had updated to an appropriate amount, so it was more about just making the moves all smart like. And she was making quick work of the puzzle too. Moving with all of the speed a concerned friend and angered mother could muster she sped through the puzzle in what felt like record time, aided by a memory so richly embossed with the vigor of danger. The puzzles weren't all that complicated once you got the hang of it. The imposed limits on time and moves were enhanced by the danger of failure of course, but if you paid attention the prospect of failure diminished swiftly.

 

Not that it mattered as she went to make the final move. Somepony else had done something- that awful buzzing followed by a magical flash. Applejack went to give out a frustrated scream- instead, what came was a piercing screech from the beak of a griffon. She could feel it, but more importantly she felt her now lion-like tail as her hat slid off of her face and onto the floor. She didn't know who had messed up but she was frustrated even more- but she still was silent as she watched the puzzle reset, and she immediately went back to work. Not again- the third time was the charm for a lot of things, and she didn't want to know what happened when this trap hit thrice.