The group kept looking at the wide chasm.
"Anybody got any bright ideas about how we get across?" Fancy questioned.
"Hmmmm…" the party couple pondered for a long time as the others watched on.
Cheese then said, "I got nothing."
"Me neither." she rubbed her temple, "It feels my brain exploded!"
Rarity shook her head.
Soarin' then looked back and realized, "Hey, wait a second!" He opened his wings, "I got wings!"
Rumble exclaimed and opened his wings as well, "Hey, me too!"
"It's simple: all me and Rumble have to do is fly across and see if we can find Twilight or the book."
The wingless ponies nodded and Rarity said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!"
Soarin' and Rumble braced themselves for take-off and flew right over the chasm. They landed on the other side and Soarin' turned back to the group, "We'll be back!"
Pinkie waved at them, "Take your time!"
"As in…" started Rarity, "Hurry back!"
The pegasi nodded and continued down the tunnel.
Cheese suggested once they were out of sight, "Might as well get comfortable." He took a pack of cards out of his curly hair and the four ponies gathered around for the game.
Just as Rarity sat down, she saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye and once she looked behind her, the shadow was gone. She was confused at first, but when she started playing the game, she thought nothing of it. Little did she realize that it was Coco's shadow she saw and Coco was watching them carefully behind a cave wall.
The light got brighter as Applejack led the group. Once they made it to where the light ended, they gasped. They found themselves in a huge cavern filled with piles of gems and jewels of all sorts.
The group stood gawking and Spike's eyes gleamed.
"It's a jewel paradise!" he exclaimed, and finally he couldn't take it and jumped into a nearby pile and feasted on the stones.
His wife was laughing and shaking her head.
He stopped and turned towards her with a guilty look, "Listen… I'm really sorry that I didn't say anything about…"
"Forget it."
"I just… didn't know if you wanted the truth or not. I know how you hate to lie or how others lie…"
She nodded, "That I do… But… I don't mind a white lie every now and then… Knowing that you care about my feelings when others make fun… it's… nice… I appreciate that you support my belief for the honest truth, but how about we'd be honest with each other while still being complimentary?"
He smiled and took her hoof to kiss, "That is something I can do…"
She grabbed him and kissed him on the lips.
Discord and Fluttershy saw the sweet scene and slowly turn towards each other.
Discord rubbed his neck, "Sweetheart, about…"
But she shushed him by placing her hoof over her mouth, "What I want to know is… do you love me for who I am?"
He smiled widely and said while wrapping his tail around her, "Yes! Yes, of course I do!"
"Even when I have flaws?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that…"
She raised her brow.
"To me, you have hardly any flaws. Because to a spirit of chaos, flaws just make you more attractive…"
She gasped, feeling touched.
"I just make sure your feelings don't get hurt…"
She shook her head, "Oh, Discord. You can't stop feelings from getting hurt…"
"Well, I can try."
She giggled, "Knowing that you look out for me is very sweet and caring, and it lets me know I can always rely on you to make it easier to deal with hurt feelings…" She wrapped her arms around him and they gazed into each other's eyes before kissing.
Apple Bloom and Pip knew then that they should give the couples some privacy, and they began to move past the piles of gems. When they saw what was beyond the gems, they gave out a scream.
The others came running over to them.
"What's wrong?!" AJ asked.
"That!" they both pointed.
They turned to the direction of their point and saw a huge golden temple. The words on the double doors were, 'Beware, take what you need but not out of greed… Take a peek of what treasure you seek… For those who stay cannot get away…'
Pip shouted, "I thought we would never see this thing again!"
"Yeah! It sunk into the ground!" AB yelled.
Discord cleared his throat and gave out a small chuckle, "Well, I don't know if you noticed, but we are underground!"
Bloom grumbled, "I'm aware…"
"So, this is the big bad temple you two told us about?" Applejack said.
"It wasn't so bad until Flim and Flam took matters into their own hooves…" Pip mentioned.
"This thing's nothin' but trouble! So I'm warning all of you now: stay away from it!" AB panted.
Applejack went up to her little sis, who she had known for so long and wrapped her hoof around her neck, "Easy there, tiger… Don't worry, we'll make sure to avoid it at all costs…" She turned to a certain being, "Ain't that right, Discord?" She eyed him.
"What?! I would never…" he batted innocent eyes, "…go near something so dangerous…" he made a halo appear on top of his head.
The others just sighed in exasperation. AJ started to turn her head away and for a brief second, she saw a shadow. She quickly turned around, but the shadow was gone.
Fluttershy asked in concern, "What is it, Applejack?"
"I thought I saw… Uh, never mind, it was nothing." she turned back to the group.
But she didn't realize that Silver Shill was watching them from the cavern's entrance.
The group finally got to where the noise was the loudest and found an iron gate. Flash quietly opened it and peeked his head in. He saw a room with cages and three Diamonds Dogs fighting, one of them being in a headlock. There was also one alicorn princess who was watching the skirmish with annoyance.
His heart pounded in joy when he saw his wife was unharmed and without a single scratch on her. He turned back to his group, consisting of two ponies and two Breezies. "She's in there."
"Great!" Shining cheered.
"She's in a cage guarded by three Diamond Dogs. Luckily, they're busy at the moment…"
"Well, if we found the Diamond Dogs, then it should be easy to talk to them once I show them this." Button held out the royal pendant.
"But we don't know that if these are the Diamond Dogs we're supposed to meet…" said Flash, "They did, after all, kidnap Twilight…" he gritted his teeth.
Sweetie nodded and took her husband's hoof, "He's right. How do we know if they'll listen to us…?"
Cadence flittered up to Flash, "Flash, if I get to Twilight, and ask her what she knows…"
He smiled, "Would you?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, and ask her if she's alright, too."
She smirked, "I was going to ask her that first."
Shining went up to her, "Just… be careful…"
She pecked her lover's cheek before Flash took her in his hoof and got her through the gate. She fluttered past the bickering Diamond Dogs and got into Twilight's cage. She went up to her cousin's face and said "Psst!"
Twilight looked around before she saw, "Cadence!" she softly whispered.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Where's Flash?"
She giggled, "You two are so alike…" She pointed towards the entrance of the room, "Why don't you see for yourself…?"
Twilight saw the orange pegasus with the blue eyes and had a Breezie on top of his head looking into the room. He smiled at her and she returned the smile.
"What is going on over there?" Cadence asked when seeing the dogs still duking it out.
Twilight sighed, "They're 'negotiating' how we can trade for the Ancient Book of Secrets, but since they think we're going to be slaves anyway for mining their diamonds already, they can't think of the proper thing for trade."
"But… Button has the royal pendant. He should be able to command them to give us the book…"
"Is he here?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, here," she put Cadence behind her mane, "I need to ask something…" she started yelling to the dogs, "Hey! Stop your fighting for one second and answer me this!"
They did stop and faced her. Spot said, "You do not command us, pony!"
"Oh, really? Then who does?"
"Only the one who holds the Great Diamond…the rulers of the island."
Back outside the room, Button heard that and examined the pendent, which held a diamond in the middle. He whispered out loud, "So, it wasn't so much as proving that I was Marendelle's rightful ruler, but that the Diamond Dogs respect a pony that had a large diamond in their grasp…"
The others around him nodded in agreement.
Twilight said, "I see… Well, what were to happen if I was a guest of the pony that held the Great Diamond?"
"Then you'd be let go immediately! But since no pony has it now, then you are to be our slave!" he gave out a laugh.
"She will not!" shouted a voice.
They turned around to see a pony holding a pendant out, "I am Prince Button Mash of Marendelle, your next king!"
The trio quivered and quickly bowed down, "Your Highness! We are at your service!"
"Good. First off, I want you to release Princess Twilight Sparkle, and second, you are to give her anything she asks for. Got it?!"
Still quivering, they said, "Ye-Yes, Your Highness!"
Once Twilight was set free, she rushed into her husband's awaiting arms and they embraced for a long time.
Rumble questioned as he and Soarin' went down the long tunnel, "How long do you suppose we've been walking down this same tunnel?"
"Too long…" But suddenly, he saw a light up ahead, "Say… what's that?"
They quickly went towards it and found a large cavern full of jewels!
"Whoa…" they both said.
"Hey, how did you two get here?" said a voice and they turned to see Pip.
Rumble explained, "We just came from the other tunnel."
The others came over to them and Discord said, "Fascinating. These caves seem to connect."
"Where's the rest of your group?" Applejack asked.
"They're stuck on the other side of a huge gap!" pointed Soarin'. "We managed to get pass because of these." He opened his wings.
"Well, land sakes! Let's go to them!" AJ exclaimed.
"Follow me!" Soarin' started back for the tunnel and the others began following except for Rumble, who noticed the golden temple.
He slowly approached it and said, "Hey… isn't this…?"
"NO!" both AB and Pip tackled him.
"Don't open it!" screamed Apple Bloom.
"But-"
"NO!" they repeated in his face, began dragging him off, and followed after the group.
The Diamond Dogs led them down a long passageway. The Dogs had to take turns using the gems on their collars to open hidden passages.
Spot said, "We're here." He opened a stone door that slid off to the side.
They looked in to see an empty room, and in the middle of the room was a pedestal where a large red book sat on top. Twilight slowly approached the book and saw an emblem of a star that she recognized on Star Swirl the Bearded's cloak and hat.
She thought, Could it be that he had a hoof in this magical book? Using her magic, she began flipping pages and she was amazed by the many spells that she thought were impossible to cast! She said out loud, "Divination, slowing the aging process, telling a baby's gender ahead of time! This is amazing!"
Shining Armor floated up to her mane, "If it can do all that, then it's bound to tell us how to break Cadence's curse!"
"I know. I'm trying to find that right now." she kept flipping through the pages and came across a particular spell. "Here's the spell the queen used to enchant the pea." She kept on flipping.
The group anxiously awaited as Twilight was trying to find the answer. Finally, she shouted out, "Ah-ha! Curses!" She read out, "To whosoever has been transformed through powerful means, the cursed being must kiss the one they love and in turn, the one they kiss must make a vow of everlasting love…"
"Really?!" all the ponies and Breezies said.
Shining smiled, "Well, that should be easy!" He turned towards Cadence, "Pucker up, sweetie!" He pressed his lips together.
"Shiny!" she giggled and slightly pushed him away, "I would like to kiss you in our proper forms."
He sighed and smiled, "Oh, alright."
"But there's a catch," pointed Twilight as she was still reading from the book, "You make a vow of everlasting love, but you must prove it to the world…"
Shining suddenly stiffened, "The… The world?! How?!"
Twilight shook her head, "I'm not sure, but we'll think of something now that we finally know how to break the spell."
"That's right." Flash went up, wrapped his hoof around her, and looked back to the Breezies, "We'll stop at nothing until you are free."
The Dogs watched them from the entrance until they heard a psst sound. They turned to see a pony waving them over.
"Who are you?" Spot demanded.
"Ah, this one can be our slave!" said Rover, about to grab the pony.
But Suri Polomare took a step back and said innocently, "Gosh, I would love to be your slave, but… I was going to offer you something much better than servitude. Ah, well, your loss."
Fido asked, "What's better?"
"Well… You don't have to follow orders anymore from the ponies that rule this land if you had, say… the Great Diamond?"
Their eyes filled with images of the large diamond as they grinned.
Spot then said, "So you can get us the diamond?"
"Yes. But I want an exchange in return. The diamond for the book… 'Kay?"
Rover exclaimed, "You got it!"
They went back just as she gave off a malicious grin.
Twilight closed the book and held Cadence in her hoof as she moved with the group to the entrance. They didn't realize that Spot moved to the pedestal to grab the book.
"So here's what we have to do: we go back to Canterlot, meet with Mother, Father, and Aunt Luna, tell them what we know, and hopefully they'll give us some ideas about how Shining Armor can make a vow of everlasting love while proving it to the world."
They nodded and Flash smiled. He turned his head back, but frowned when he saw Spot grabbing for the Ancient Book of Secrets. He called out, "Hey! What are you doing?"
Spot stammered, "Well… Well, I was…" He nervously chuckled until he grabbed for the book and shouted out, "Catch!" He threw the book to Rover, who caught it.
Twilight shouted, "What are you doing?! That book is too dangerous to leave this place!"
"Too bad!" Rover laughed and ran off. The group tried to go after him, but was detained by the other two.
Rover reached Suri and handed the book over, "Now give us the Great Diamond."
"Sorry, doggie, but I never make a deal I can't fulfill, 'kay? So… bye!" she put the book in her saddle bag and ran down the tunnels.
"He-Hey!" Rover quickly blew a whistle and the others came rushing in.
"What happened?!" Spot demanded.
"That pony double-crossed us!"
"What pony?" Sweetie questioned.
Spot explained, "The one who was going to give us the Great Diamond in exchange for the book!"
Button took out the pendant and stipulated, "This diamond has been in my family for generations and my mother said I wasn't supposed to lose it… Now you three listen to me… when we get the book back, you are to keep guard of it always… I am willing to forget this mistake, but you must help us retrieve the book back. Got it?" he eyed them.
They gulped.
The group found the other group on the other side of the chasm. Discord snapped his fingers and made a rope bridge appear. Applejack led her group to Rarity's group. Once they exchanged reports about not finding Twilight or the book, they started back for the start of tunnel and Coco knew she had to get going.
Rarity could have sworn she saw a shadow ahead of them. Applejack noticed her confusion and whispered, "You okay?"
"Well… I know this is going to sound crazy, but I could have sworn I saw a shadow watching me…"
"I know what you mean… The same thing happened to me…"
"How strange…" Rarity rubbed her chin in thought.
"Course, it could be our minds playing tricks on us."
"While I don't like the idea of losing it, it could be true… what with worrying about Twilight and breaking Cadence's curse and not to mention wondering how Gemstone is doing without her mother…"
AJ nodded.
Coco ran with all her might and was running out of breath. The group behind her was catching up with her.
"Over here!" said a voice.
She turned to see Silver Shill waving her over to a gap in the cave wall. She quickly went into it, leaving her and Silver with limited space. It made her blush since she was leaning so close onto his shoulder. Luckily, with it being dark, he couldn't see it.
"I thought you were following the other group?" she quietly asked him.
"I was, but once I realized the tunnels connected and they were going to meet the others, I knew it was best to get to you and warn you."
She arched her brow, "Why?"
"Uh…" Now it was his turn to blush. The real truth that he was coming to warn her was because he was worried she was going to get caught. That was the last thing he wanted for her.
"Silver?" she suddenly said.
"Yes?"
"Look, we've been through a lot together and I…"
"Uh-huh?" he gave off a hopeful glance.
"Well, I just wanted to say…" she took a pause and sighed, "…thank you… I guess… for helping me get through this…" She gave a small smile, since that wasn't what she wanted to tell him. While she truly was grateful for his help when dealing with Suri and Tirek, she wanted to express her true feelings at that point…
"Oh…" he had a disappointed look, but masked it with a smile on his face, "You're welcome…" Inside his mind, he was scolding himself for not saying how he truly felt for the lovely mare pressed against his shoulder. He liked how she was close to him this way.
Then, he heard rustling hoofsteps coming closer. He whispered, "Don't make a sound and wait until they pass…"
"Right…" she nodded.
The hoofsteps came closer and closer until suddenly, Suri's face popped up to them, giving them a fright. She harshly whispered to them, "What in Equestria are you two doing?! I'm doing all the work and you're just sitting there!"
Silver retorted, "For your information, we were making sure we didn't get caught by them!"
She scoffed, "Whatever. Now come on! I got the book! The Master will be so pleased with me! I bet he'll reward me for my good work! Let's go!" she started scamping off.
They quickly followed after her and made it to the hole where the trio followed after the royal group. They had a rope at the ready from which they made their way down. They started climbing the rope.
All three groups managed to bump into each other. The sisters were relieved to see Twilight was all right, but once she explained what happened to the Ancient Book of Secrets, they quickly made it for the above world, to which Discord helped teleport them out.
Pinkie found tracks heading for outside of the jungle. She shouted out, "Stop thief! Or… Thieves!"
The three earth ponies ran with all their might, but when Coco tripped over a log, Silver stopped while Suri kept on running.
"Are you okay?" he asked in concern as he helped her up.
"Yeah… I think so…"
"Can you keep on running?"
"My hoof hurts a little, but… yeah."
Silver thought furiously as he saw Suri was still running, not once bothering to see if Coco was all right. Some boss you are… can't even see if your own assistant was keeping up… Then, he looked back to see the giant group still following them and how the pink pony and the orange stallion next to her were acting like bloodhounds. Well, there is no way I'm not going to let you get away with pleasing the master if you're willing to let the pony you took in get hurt… He quickly grabbed a pebble, which was a cut stone emerald and threw it at Suri's saddle bag. It unattached the latch and the book flew out. Suri didn't even noticed because she was still running like the wind.
Silver and Coco reached the book. Silver picked up the emerald and offered it to her as he blushed, "For you."
She blushed and accepted the stone, "I… I don't know what to say…"
"You don't have to say anything…" He looked at the book, "Really…"
"Oh… she's not going to like this and neither will the master…"
"I know, but at least we can both claim that Suri lost it and we won't be facing the boss's wrath."
She nodded.
"Come on. Let's hurry before Suri takes off without us…"
"I certainly wouldn't put it past her…"
"After what happened to you, she most definitely thinks about herself…" he scowled.
But not you… Coco thought with a smile. And as they ran, her fantasies of him and her together came back, plus a few more.
Once the large faction, consisting of ponies, a dragon, a draconequus, and Breezies, found the book, they got back to the castle and put it on the dining table of the banquet hall. Twilight and Button both agreed that placing it back into its original hiding spot wasn't such a good idea, what with its location being compromised and its former guardians being corrupted.
Twilight turned to the queen, "Your Highness, with your permission, I would like to bring the book back with me to Canterlot. I'm sure my parents can figure out another safe hiding place."
Queen Love Tap nodded and said, "Yes, I agree. Now that I know the Diamond Dogs are untrustworthy… it must be taken away from here… In the meantime, you must all be tired from the excitement that's happened today. Please, I shall have guards escort you all to your rooms for the night."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," spoke Twilight as she looked out the window to see her mother's sun setting. She noticed Cadence and Shining Armor doing the same thing, "But there's something we must do first…"
Sweetie said, "Oh! Is this the transformation you told us about?"
"Uh-huh." Rarity answered.
"Now that's something I want to see!" said Scootaloo.
Rainbow rubbed her head, "It'll be hard to miss, squirt… It'll be hard to miss…"
Every pony started laughing.