As Twilight trotted down she worried for a moment that she'd be blind down there, but already she could see a light at the bottom of the stairs, a bright red glow that flickered like it was coming from a fire. Twilight followed it until she was in the crypt itself. Inside was nothing like she thought it'd be, it wasn't even dark like the entrance was.
Far from a festering pit of rotting corpses, this place was beautiful. It was a hallway with six stone coffins lining each of the walls and a bed of stone in the center of it all. The coffins were gilded with gold and the walls and columns between them were covered in gems. Everything had intricate, detailed designs carved into them, swirling patterns and carvings of ponies with eyes socketed with gems.
Money looming on the back of her mind, Twilight wondered how anyone could have just buried so many valuable gems.
“I knew these tombs were ornate,” said Twilight, still taking it all in, “but this is much more than what I imagined. This family must have been amazingly wealthy.”
“Fairly wealthy,” Rarity corrected her, “but not as much as you'd think. This is the tomb of the Gemstone family. This one-”
Rarity trotted over to one of the coffins, one with an image of a filly carved into it. She ran her hoof down the side of the stone face and closed her eyes.
“This was a filly name Sweetie Belle,” she said. “Just after getting her cutie mark, she got an incurable disease and died tragically, at such a young age. Her family was devastated. Her father coped with the loss by focusing his attention on building this ornate tomb or her.”
Rarity very slowly trotted over to the next coffin, running her hoof along the waving, swirling patterns along the wall as she went, tracing the patterns in the gilded stone.
“The whole family were renowned for their artistic talents, you know,” said Rarity. “The father bought the finest stone and most brilliant gems to fill this place, spending more money than he could really afford, spending days and days down here carving this out, making it perfect– his final, beautiful gift for his lost daughter.”
She finally stopped in front of a second coffin. From the design on the front it looked like it probably belonged to a mare.
“Does that sound like a sweet gesture?” Rarity glanced back at Twilight. “Well not everyone thought so, apparently. Sweetie Belle's mother was also crushed and her husband spent all his time down here, away from her, focusing on the dead rather than the living. Maybe he could have helped her through it otherwise, or maybe it was always hopeless, but-”
Rarity ran her hoof along the coffin in front of her, lovingly, sorrowfully. Twilight almost got the impression that Rarity had known the pony inside, though of course this was impossible, seeing as they died hundreds of years ago.
Unless Rarity was a vampire, said a little voice in Twilight's head, but she dismissed it right away.
“-here they are,” said Rarity, not taking her eyes off the coffin. “A tragedy, some bad decisions, love makes us do stupid things, Twilight. Not just good, stupid things, either.”
Rarity let out a sorrowful sigh.
“You know,” Twilight said to Dash, “this is actually kind of depressing.”
“This isn't what we came here for,” said Dash. “Rares doesn't always get this whishy washy when we pass through here.”
Dash moved over to Rarity and put a hoof on her back.“You gonna need a minute?” she asked.
“Of course not.” Rarity turned back to Dash , a sad smile on her face. She closed her eyes and nuzzled Dash's mane softly. “I would never make the same mistake these ponies did. Pinkie?”
“Right,” said Pinkie. She bounced her way over to the far corner of the tomb and began pushing a stone slab that was on the ground.
“Rara brought us here a couple times just to look at the statues.” Pinkie had managed to dislodge the slab by this point, and was now taking bricks out of the wall behind it. “I was so incredibly bored one time that I started poking around and poking around until I noticed-”
A small collection of bricks were next to Pinkie now, and a hole in the wall was in front of her. It was a small, cavernous tunnel, only about half of it above the foundation, leading into the darkness.
Pinkie smiled and gestured to the tunnel before crawling into it.
“We're going spelunking?” Twilight asked. “But that's really, really dangerous! Did you know there are fifty-two ways that cave diving can kill you? Because there are!”
“We've already explored this cavern,” Rarity assured her. “It's stable and there's a place to turn around up ahead. We've even put support and lighting up in the main area.”
“And the place at the end is awesome,” Dash said. “Bit of a drop at the end of the tunnel, but you'll be fine.”
Twilight bit her lip and looked at the tunnel. This still sounded like a bad idea. In fact, the ideas they were giving her were getting progressively worse, from uncomfortable to disrespectful to outright dangerous.
“I don't know,” said Twilight, backing away a little. “It's okay if I say no, right?”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Look, Twi. We were right about the party and playing pranks and coming down here. And going into the cave is a great idea too!”
Rarity raised a hoof, which was enough to silence Dash. “Of course you can say no. Everypony has their choices to make,” she said to Twilight, then turned back to Dash. “We've done enough convincing. I want to see if she'll follow on her own now.”
Rarity crawled into the tunnel next. Dash gave Twilight one last glance before following.
“Trust us, Twi,” Dash said, just before crawling into the hole herself.
Twilight secretly wished they had stayed to convince her, or even told her she had no choice. Sure, the latter would have been rude, but now Twilight found herself conflicted. Being brave had worked out for her so far, but surely there was a limit to what one should shrug off their fear to do.
Twilight started trotting back and forth, wanting to both follow and leave at the same time. She stopped herself much quicker this time, though. This conflict was just going to keep her alone and from seeing new things, wasn't it? Besides, they assured her this was safe and they'd done it before.
Twilight took a deep breath and crawled into the tunnel. Once you had gotten past the entrance, it actually wasn't too cramped, Twilight could easily stand but she had to duck her head. It was tight enough that turning around would be a bit tough, but they said there was a bigger area just ahead.
So with her head bowed and her horn glowing, Twilight trotted down the tunnel. Soon enough she came to the drop Dash had mentioned, which was actually two drops, one to a ledge then one to something that looked to be a much larger area, some light already glowing from within.
“Is it really safe to drop down there?” Twilight called out. The drop did look to be from almost the height of a second story window.
“Do it all the time,” said Dash. “You'll be fine.”
Twilight hung looking over the ledge for a moment, running some calculations in her head... Maybe it would be safe after all.
Twilight leaned forward and fell onto the ledge, front feet first. She landed a bit hard, but it didn't hurt. It wasn't so bad, actually. She made the second jump much faster and landed in a surprisingly warm section of cave with a large pool of water in front of her.
Rarity shot a spell straight upwards. Twilight followed that ball of blue magic with her eyes. Just now she realized that the roof of this place was actually a massive ruby, with several smaller, but still large, rubies littering the ceiling and to a lesser extent the sides of the walls.
Rarity's blue magic lit up the gem, causing it to glow along side her sphere of magic. The red from the rubies and the blue from Rarity's magic mixed to fill the cavern with an otherworldly purple glow. The cut of the gems caused the light to cascade a bit, stopping in some places and breaking into pure red or blue in others.
“This really is pretty,” said Twilight. She wasn't sure if it was better than the gilded tomb had been, but it was at least as beautiful. “To think something like this would be buried so deep- Is this what you wanted to show me?”
“Nope!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That's not even the good part! The good part is the hot spring."
Hot spring? Twilight moved over to the water and put her hoof over it. Sure enough, it was warm, a bit more than a bathtub. A little bit forward was a heavy trickle of bubbles, some of which made it all the way to her. It was almost like a natural Jacuzzi.
“A hot spring?” Twilight asked, more out of surprise than anything else. “But that's impossible. Ponyville isn't anywhere near a volcano, and if it was wouldn't there be more?”
“Not from a volcano,” said Rarity. She pointed to the ceiling. “Pay closer attention. These aren't rubies, they're fire stones.”
Twilight did study them more carefully and blushed at the realization that Rarity was right. Twilight did know her gemstones mind you, it was just that it had been dark before and Twilight had been a bit distracted. She wouldn't have made this mistake otherwise!
“And nopony knows about this place but us!” Pinkie moved past Twilight excitedly and jumped into the hot water, reclining against a stone. “Come on in, it's great! Oh! But don't go over to where those bubble are or you'll die a fiery death!”
Twilight looked at Pinkie, then back to Rarity. “But wouldn't this water be stagnant?” Twilight looked around the edges of the cave to see where this pool of water could be coming from, but couldn't find a source. “Well, actually I guess the bubble might help, but we're near a graveyard! It could be contaminated!”
“Purification spell.” Rarity bent her head over the water and her her glowed. The water followed suit briefly, then the blue light among it died down. “You said you study magic, yes? I'm sure you know that one.”
“Well yes,” said Twilight. It was an advanced spell, but not too advanced. Twilight knew it, but you certainly wouldn't expect anyone who hadn't studied magic to. “I'm just a little surprised you do. Did you study magic?”
“You could certainly say that,” said Rarity. “I dare say I'm very well versed in magic.”
“Really?!” Twilight's eyes sparkled. She had just found another pony her age that was into magic! All of Rarity's weirdness was suddenly forgotten, this was great! “What kind of magic do you study? Enchantment? Illusions? Kinetics? Transformation?”
“I've read up on all of the major branches, and minor ones. I can't think of a type of magic that hasn't caught my interest at some point.”
“Me too! I can't get enough of magic! I know over a hundred spells and try to learn a new one regularly.”
“That's a lot for your age.” Rarity circled around Twilight, looking her over once more. “You are a very clever little pony aren't you?”
That was the sort of thing that would sound condescending from any other pony on the entire planet, but when Rarity said that, it made Twilight blush. Her instinct was to freeze whenever Rarity circled her like this.
That blush was interrupted by a splashing sound and some warm water hitting Twilight. Pinkie had just jumped into the springs like it was a pool.
“Come on in!” Pinkie dipped under the water, then came back out, spitting some water up like a fountain, which Twilight was fairly certain wasn't a standard hot spring activity.
Dash was beckoning her too, already having gone in while Twilight wasn’t looking. Twilight looked down at the water and poked at it. It wasn't too warm. The stone near the edge had clearly been carved into at some point, given the one side was a smooth wall. Then she turned to Rarity who just smiled at her.
“Well?” Rarity smiled.
“Come on!” Pinkie fell onto her back and started swimming around. “Join us, Twitwi.”
“Stop saying that, Pinkie!” Twilight took a break from poking the water to give Pinkie a stern look. “It sounds creepy!”
Twilight braced herself and moved into the water. It wasn't bad. It felt great actually. Twilight let out the most exhausted sounding groaned she'd ever heard and sat down, leaning her back against the stone wall. The warmth melted away all the tension in Twilight's muscles.
She let out a much more contented sigh and relaxed. She was glad she came here. This was way better than having a panic attack.
“Nice, hm?” Rarity leaned over the edge of the spring towards Twilight, but didn't touch the water herself. “I bet you didn't know being 'corrupted' felt so nice. Maybe you should let me twist you a little bit more?”
“I dunno if sitting in a hot spring is very corrupt.”
“Indulgence of any kind is frowned upon in society. A sad fact, if you ask me.”
“And you're trying to corrupt me?” Twilight sank into the water a little more. She knew Rarity was just teasing her, but still.
“Most ponies wouldn't have followed us down this far,” said Rarity, “not nearly. I think if you're here then maybe you want to be 'corrupted'.”
“Followed you down?” Twilight thought about that for a moment. Through a graveyard, to a crypt and now here. “Oh sweet Celestia! This cave is a metaphor for my moral descent isn't it? I don't want to be corrupted!”
Twilight stood up straight, lifting most of herself out of the water.
“There are no metaphors in real life.” said Rarity.
“And even if there were, we're the ones with a hot tub!” Pinkie declared splashing the water a little. “How can somepony with a hot tub be evil? Hmm?”
“That's nonsensical but interesting,” said Twilight, leaning over to look at her dim reflection in the pool. “What is the hot spring supposed to represent? I guess my reflection is kind of blurry. Like, the pleasure of the hot spring is blurring my character? Does that make sense?”
Twilight looked up Pinkie who gave an enthusiastic nod. Rarity looked less amused.
“What did I just say?” Rarity put her hoof on Twilight, just slightly above the base of her tail, and pressed down gently.
Twilight tensed up and resisted for a second, but slowly gave way to Rarity and sat back down in the water. The warmth came back, relaxing her.
“There!” Rarity sounded so chipper. “That's better.”
Twilight liked that, but she didn't want to admit it. She just blushed and tried not to make a sound.
The blushing only got worse when Rarity sat down right behind her and began fussing with her mane. Rarity looked it over, then flipped it around with her magic, then put one hoof on Twilight's back and another on her head, poking around Twilight's mane in a manner that reminded Twilight of an ape picking bugs out of another's fur.
This was a clear violation of personal space. Most ponies would be outraged by this. Twilight knew she should tell Rarity to stop, but she really like the feeling of her hooves poking against her. And the other two were just splashing each other, acting like it was no big deal.
Somehow this was normal here.
So Twilight just let it happen, pretending it was normal like the others did. Just sitting here, completely silent felt awkward, though. Twilight tried to think of something to talk about.
“So uh, how did you know about that family?” Twilight asked. “The ones in the tomb upstairs I mean."
“There's a plaque on the side, dear,” said Rarity. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Twilight let herself sink into the water a little. Darn it! She should have asked about magic or something.
“Applejack's been feeding her those vampire stories,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Oh? Are you worried about that?” Rarity let go of Twilight's hair and leaned around Twilight to look at her from the side. “Even if we were vampires I'm sure you'd be fine. We like you, Twilight. So would it even matter if we were?”
“Yes. Cause then you'd be killing ponies and drinking their blood. Vampires are evil.”
“Oh I'm sure if I was a vampire I'd be clever enough to not have to kill anypony,” said Rarity. “I hardly think a vampire has to be evil, either. In fact, I think it'd be better than being a normal pony. Wouldn't you want to be a vampire, if you could?”
“Um. No? Why would I want to be a vampire?”
“Well you'd get to live forever,” said Dash.
“And they're supposed to have eternal beauty and unnatural charm,” said Rarity.
“And vampires never get sick or tired!” Pinkie declared. “They never have to go to work or school and can play all day!”
“I don't think that last one is a thing,” said Twilight. “But what, are you huge fans of vampires or something?”
“We are very much fans of this stuff,” said Rarity. “It is interesting to think about, isn't it? Would you really turn down an offer for all of that?”
“Yes,” said Twilight. “Vampires have to kill ponies every day and die instantly in the sun.”
“And who's idea was that, huh?” Dash asked. “Maybe vampires just lose their powers in sunlight. Maybe they're like fruit bats instead of the blood-sucking ones and just need lots of sugar to live. Unless you actually met one, how would you know?”
“Well if you're just making up your own vampire rules then sure,” said Twilight. “But they're supposed to be drink blood and-”
“-that's not the interesting question here.” Rarity waved the objections away with her hoof. “The interesting question is if you'd like to live forever. Would eternal youth be worth never going out in the sunlight again? Or at least being outcasted by society.”
“Well of course I wouldn't,” said Twilight. “Living forever would be horrible.”
They were going to ask her why, Twilight knew it.
“Because,” Twilight added quickly, struggling to find the reason why. Again, she knew it was the right answer, but struggled to think of why. Rarity smiled. “Because then, um. You'd have to watch all of your friends and family grow old and die.”
“Wrong!” Pinkie pointed at Twilight.
“Think you got that backwards, Twi,” said Dash. “Watching your friends grow old and die is something you have to do now, it's something every normal pony has to deal with. But if you were a vampire-”
“-and all of your friends were vampires,” Rarity continued, “who also never aged, then you wouldn't have to do that, would you?”
The other three had moved a good deal closer to Twilight and had surrounded her. Twilight glanced back and forth between them.
“Okay, now you're really giving me the impression that you're vampires who are trying to turn me,” said Twilight. “I mean, I don't believe in vampires, but if you were-”
“-we wouldn't hurt you,” said Rarity.
“I know,” said Twilight. You'd think being alone with them in the perfect place to hide a body would be unnerving, but Twilight actually felt more secure here than back home. “But you'd tell me, right?”
“Oh, I don't know about that.” Rarity gave a teasing smile. “It'd depend. Maybe it would be dangerous to tell ponies who don't want to join me themselves.”
“But you'd join us, right?” Pinkie lurched forward. “If we were vampires, I mean. Wouldn't it be awesome to all be vampires together?”
“No.” Twilight pulled away from her a little. “I just said I wouldn't want to be immortal.”
“And gave a bad reason,” Dash said.
“There are other reasons,” said Twilight. “I'd get bored of everything eventually, when the sun explodes I'd be floating through space, eventually years would seem like seconds, I'd be sucking up resources and deny new life the chance to take my place. Eternal youth would be selfish.”
Twilight nodded. There. Those were all good reasons.
“You mean except when Celestia does it,” said Rarity.
Twilight's confidence shattered just like that.
“Th-that's different!” She managed to stutter out.
Rarity just chuckled and sat down behind Twilight once again. “Ah! Now I know!” She pulled Twilight's bangs all the way back. “The perfect mane style for you. Something spiky, like Rainbow Dash's but more of an up do.”
Twilight looked skeptically at Dash's hair, then back at Rarity.“But I'm a unicorn, and that sounds like a pegasus' haircut.”
“I know.” Rarity winked. “That's precisely one of the reasons it would look so bold on you.”
“But you can't-”
“You can do your mane any way you want,” said Rarity.
“I know I could technically get any mane cut I wanted,” said Twilight, “but there are some things you're just not supposed to do! Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi all have very specific ways they're supposed to wear their manes and deviating from that would be – well it'd be going against society!”
“Buck society!” Dash spit off to the side. “And buck Celestia too! What right do they have to tell you what you can do?”
Twilight gasped at Dash's flippant attitude about this. Did she really just blaspheme Celestia? Twilight had never heard anyone say something bad about the princess before! She was pretty sure you could get fined for that! Even go to jail if it was bad enough.
“Oh come on!” Dash let her self float on her back and drifted deeper into the water. “You seriously think Celestia's right about everything? And that society is too? They have all kinds of stupid crap they force on you! You honestly think the system is fair?”
Now, Twilight would normally have lectured Dash about this, and she opened her mouth to, but had to stop talking. She remembered what had just happened to her just a few minutes ago. She was about to defend how fair the society that had basically ruined her life moments ago for the sake of some mold was.
Twilight couldn't muster the will to disagree with Dash and had no choice but to shut her mouth and look off into the distance. Maybe it was a little unfair sometimes.
With only her eyes above the water, Pinkie drifted over towards Twilight till she was an inch away and looked up at Twilight with her eyes.
“You suuuure there's nothing you want to tell us?” Pinkie asked. “You look kind of like there is.”
Twilight bit her lip, unsure if she wanted to say it.
“Okay.” Twilight bowed her head and sighed. “It turns out I'm not getting any money for my parents house and now I got a huge bill instead. I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep all my bills paid till I'm done with high school, let alone get through college.”
“Well I'm not sure of the specifics,” said Rarity, “but it may be worth it to challenge whatever caused you to lose the house. As for debts– those can be deferred or renegotiated. If you're really going broke most ponies will settle for something instead of getting nothing.”
“Wha?” Twilight didn't see that one coming. They really could give her financial advice? “Well, maybe, but I don't really know how to do any of that.”
“I'm very good with managing money,” said Rarity. “If you're willing to show me all the papers, I can show you what to do.”
“R-really?” Twilight thought about protesting, at least to be polite, but she really needed help right now. “I mean, if you can help me at all that'd be great! Thank you so much!”
Turned out coming here was a good idea! “Thank you. I-I really.” Twilight's eyes started watering. It really was so unfair, all of it! She tried not to cry. “It's just so much! Was my family dying and having to move here not enough?! Everything is just so terrible right now! I just-!”
Twilight lurched forward and sobbed, trying so hard not to cry. She didn't want to break down in front of everypony, but it was so hard to keep the tears back.
“Ah. Poor Twitwi.” Pinkie popped out from under the water completely. “You know what you need? A hug!”
Pinkie smiled widely and held her forelegs out wide, offering to receive Twilight. Twilight was shocked by this suggestion. Her eyes widened in horror as she stumbled backwards, falling out of the water entirely. How could Pinkie just ask that?
“You can't hug somepony in public!” Twilight gasped.
“Says who?” Dash asked.
“I'm pretty sure like 99% of ponies would think that's inappropriate!”
“Yeah, maybe they do, but 99% of ponies are stupid. Sides, it's not like a secret underground chamber is 'public', Twi.” Dash swept her hoof across the very secluded location.
“Well yeah, but-”
“Have you really never been hugged before?” Pinkie frowned at her. “Poor Twilight! I know what that's like!"
Twilight had been hugged before of course, by her parents. She got hugged by them once a year, on a holiday where it was traditional to hug your foals. Even then it was quick and awkward, something you did to get it over with and shuddered at the thought of. That was how normal ponies hugged. Well, either that or in a very dark room with your spouse, never to mention said hug again.
“Yeah,” said Twilight. “Only with my immediate family, though! I know you three hug each other all the time, but frankly I think it's wrong! You can't hug anypony but your family and even that's pushing it.”
“But we're friends now!” Pinkie just opened her hooves wider. “And friends are just as good as family! Better, I'd say!”
“Friends?”
Twilight had never actually had any friends before. No real friends, anyway, nopony that she'd go and have play dates with and all that.
“Are we friends?” Twilight asked.
]Pinkie nodded. Twilight found herself shifting in place a little. Actual, honest-to-Celstia friends?
“Heh. I know what the real problem is.” Dash snickered. “You'd rather hug Rarity, right?”
Twilight bit down hard on nothing! Why were they so good at silencing her?!
Dash just laugh hysterically. "Hahaha! You're too easy, Twi!”
“Is that it?” Rarity asked playfully. “Do you want me to hug you and make it all better?”
Rarity got out of the water and sauntered over to Twilight. Twilight's mind instantly screamed 'yes'. It was just so wrong, but Twilight really wanted to grab onto Rarity for support. Something deep down told her to, something she knew she was supposed to resist.
“There's nothing wrong with it, dear,” said Rarity. “It wouldn't be tempting if there was no good in it. Go ahead and just say yes.”
Twilight swallowed hard, looking into those beautiful eyes. “Y-yes,” the words drifted out of her mouth.
That was all Rarity needed. She gave Twilight an almost seductive look and came even closer, much closer than before even. Rarity wrapped her forelegs around Twilight and the two of them were pressed together.
Twilight had never done anything this crazy before. Her body stiffened up, becoming stone.
“Relax,” Rarity whispered in her ear.
Rarity rubbed her hoof gently down Twilight's back and made hushing noises. Twilight felt Rarity's heart beating against her chest, something she didn't remember ever feeling in another hug before. She could feel so much strength behind Rarity's grasp, but it was a gentle at the same time. Twilight felt... safe.
Twilight let her shoulders drop just a little.
“There you go.” Rarity nuzzled her forehead. “I bet you feel a lot better now.”
Slowly, bit by bit, Rarity rubbed all the tension out of the hug. This wasn't at all like the other hugs Twilight ever had before. It was just so warm and soft. Maybe the fact that Rarity didn't see it as wrong let Twilight relax as well.
Twilight was drooping into Rarity now, burying her face into Rarity's chest. She felt safe from the world for a moment, everything outside vanished. All that cruelty, Twilight felt like she could hide from it.
“I-it's just not fair!” Twilight sobbed into Rarity's fur.
“No, it isn't.” Rarity gently patted Twilight on the back. “But I'll try to be.”
Twilight sniffed. Rarity just seemed to strong and amazing right then.
“Can I ask why you like me?” Twilight ask. “You could hang out with anypony you want, why a loser like me?”
“Why doIlike you?” Rarity asked. “Well maybe I just like corrupting innocent ponies like you, just as Applejack said. Or maybe...” She stroked Twilight's mane and brought her muzzle up against the other unicorn's. “Maybe I see something wonderful in you,” said Rarity. "Something ponies very rarely have, a certain cleverness, a certain love and curiosity. I think perhaps you're one of those few, few ponies who can come to realize that what she calls corrupt is better than what she calls good.”
“Are you saying corruption is better than goodness?” Twilight pulled away a little.
“Pay more attention, darling.” Rarity patted Twilight on the cheek and pulled away herself.
As soon as Rarity pulled back, Pinkie moved in and glomped onto Twilight from the side.
“If you weren't like that you'd never know the joy of hugging a friend!” Pinkie declare. “And you wouldn't get to eat all that candy or play any of those games! You thought all those things were bad just yesterday, didn't you?"
“Maybe,” said Twilight. “Maybe. I think I'd like it all more if my life wasn't in tatters. Distractions are nice, but that's all they are.”
“I still don't think you understand how good I am. Tomorrow will be a better day for you, darling,” said Rarity, smiling in the light of the fire stones. “In fact, I'm certain of it.”