Following their return to the village Pinkie, Octavia, Steve, and Alex spent a few moments resting, since they had spent a bit of time in the Nether, before departing once more, as there were two more Soulstones to obtain and everyone was sure that one of them was in Raijin's jungle temple. As such the four of them got underway without wasting time, because the vast amount of dangers that were in the Nether informed them that the Admins were either aware of what they were doing and were trying to stop them, or it was just a coincidence that the other dimension was so full of danger. Octavia agreed with Pinkie and Pandora, ignoring the possibility that the Admins were behind the sudden changes in the Nether would be folly, as with Raijin's survival, and the destruction of both the Golem and the Parasites, her brothers had to be getting worried, so they were likely doing everything possible to stop them. At the same time Steve and Alex simply agreed with them, though both of them were focused on what sort of dangers might be waiting for them inside the Jungle Temple, as while either of the last two dungeons had been difficult they knew that Raijin had to be guarding his for some reason.
What really worried them was the fact that Pandora was keeping quite about the dungeon they were heading to, meaning she wanted it to be kept a secret and not ruin the fun before it was time, though she did direct them right to the entrance of the temple, a rectangular stone structure that was a little impressive, where they found Raijin resting nearby.
"Sorry to disturb you, but we're looking for an aberrant Soulstone and Pandora told us we could find one inside this place, no doubt guarded by a fierce monster." Pinkie said, where Octavia, Steve, and Alex landed nearby before dismissing their Morocks, to make sure the storm dragon didn't lash out at them for some reason, before finding that the beast wasn't in the middle of sleeping, he had been sitting up the entire time and was watching all of them, "We can enter, right?"
Raijin stood there for a moment, studying each of them and their gear, or at least it sure seemed that way, before raising his left hand for a second as he placed it on top of the temple structure, where they found that the door had been sealed and his touch allowed him to undo it, as it sunk into the ground. With that done he beckoned for them to enter the temple, as he had likely been told that they were coming and prepared accordingly, allowing the group to ready all of their weapons before walking down the steps that happened to be on the other side of the doorway. For a few moments it just seemed like they were heading underground, as if the temple was more like a crypt, which would be nice to track down an aberrant Soulstone, though so far it looked like there was nothing else for them to worry about. Such a thing worried the majority of them as they followed the stairs, which wasn't wrapping around itself like they thought it might, before finding that there was some light at the very bottom of the stairs and readied themselves for whatever had to be waiting for them on the other side.
What they discovered, however, was a whole new world that rested below the jungle floor, as it looked like there was a sky of sorts, trees everywhere, ancient structures that looked like time hadn't touched any of them, and it was no doubt filled with monsters that were protecting the final beast.
"I think we crossed into another dimension... there's no way all this could have been built underground." Octavia said, due to the fact that the sun section of the sky seemed to be moving like an actual celestial object, just like what they found in her Test Dimension and the Sculk Dimension, before she glanced out at the rest of the jungle and the buildings, "I'm sure there's a puzzle of some kind in this place, mostly because it seems like something Pandora might do... I might be wrong, as she's a hard one to read."
"Well, we had best get started, since we have no idea what might be in this place." Steve remarked, where the others just nodded their heads before heading down the path in front of them, as it looked like there was a path leading to what had to be the main temple of the entire jungle.
Based on what Pinkie could see it looked like there were five main structures made of stone, not counting the entrance that sealed itself behind them, meaning the key to leaving had to be in one of the others, even though she was sure that all of the smaller ones were designed for her and the others, with the fifth being the final challenge. At the same time the group kept their eyes open for any enemies that might be in this place, namely Skeletons and Zombies, that seemed to be normal for places like this, but they were ready for anything, given the other monsters they had seen so far. The thing that worried them about all of this was that the path had too many places for enemies to hide in, as there were trees and other obstacles that enemies could hide behind, if they were more along the lines of Villagers anyway. As they approached the main temple Octavia noticed that the front door was definitely locked, because there were four runes glowing near both of the upper corners of the frame and each one seemed to be linked to the four other structures that seemed to be more like tests.
She stood there for a moment as the others studied the surrounding area, making sure that there were no enemies for them to worry about, before turning her head a little and truly opened her eyes, as she had found a way to integrate her Lens into her new magical abilities and that included linking it to her eyes, without any changes happening.
"We're going to have to split up. Four of us for four tests." Octavia commented, drawing the others to her for a moment as she focused on the four structures that were resting around this part of the odd Jungle Temple, one baring the symbol of an angry dragon's head, the next had a swirl of magic, another baring a pair of crossed swords, and the fourth a bow with an arrow, which represented all four of them, "We won't be able to move forward until we complete them."
Octavia wasted no time in heading into the structure that represented her, only for her eye to twitch as she realized that it teleported her to a realm of chaotic energy, much like the past that Discord brought to Equestria with floating buildings as other things turned in the air, and she could see all sorts of information with her eyes. Of course she instantly realized the key to solving this puzzle wasn't with her magical powers, that would have been too simple since her Spectral Sight would have zeroed in on the key sigil, rather this was designed so whenever she used this form of sight the item would vanish without a trace. As such she had to rely on her other power, the one stolen from the Parasites, causing her to bound into the air with ease before glancing around, as she had mastered this part of her other power while her golems were doing all of their work, though she knew that this was designed to test her other aspects, altering her arms and chest depending on the situation she was in, before finding a matching symbol behind a crate.
Instead of tapping it now she turned around and continued pushing herself to her limits, so she could ensure she would be ready for whatever the future held for them, though she had faith that the others would be able to track down the end of their trials and meet up with her later on.
While she was doing that Pinkie found that her test was an easy one, even if it was more mental, she had to make her way through a massive dragon's hoard of treasure, because it was a quarter of Ponyville's size, without giving into temptation as she looked for the symbol that matched what was on her structure. She understood why Pandora was doing this to her, because she was far more dragon-like than she intended when she first swore revenge against the Parasites, which meant their ally wanted to see if she was greedy or if she could resist the temptation. Such a thing was likely linked to the three Admins that were their end goal, who might open the door for them to claim greater power if they swore to serve them in some manner, by appealing to their greed for power, and by forcing down her draconic greed she could prove that she was worthy to face the Admins and their terrible pawns. It was a worthwhile test, as she faced her inner greed and pushed through it, ignoring all of the treasure that was around her, before finding a magical rune on one of the walls that glowed for a moment and disappeared when she tapped on it, though she continued to walk around to conquer her greed, to be at peace before joining the others.
Steve, however, found that his test was a battle royale between him and a number of monsters, each round forcing him to use different weapons and other tactics as he searched for the symbol he was looking for, though he had to admit that all of this was good training for when it came time to fight their final enemies. Not only did he have to constantly switch his weapons, and adjust his style to accommodate each type, he found that his opponents changed as well, going from some of the most basic of foes, such as some Skeletons and Zombies, before switching to Creepers, Enderman, and other such monsters. It taught him to keep an eye on what their enemies were doing and prepare himself accordingly for whatever happened to be doing on, changing up his own tactics to ensure that he wasn't overwhelmed by what their foes happened to be doing, attacking weak points while keeping his hidden. He also spotted the symbol he was after, it was outside the arena he was currently fighting in and that meant he had to win in order to get to it, meaning he'd be here for some time, but Steve was glad for the experience and resolved to ask Pinkie for some new weaponry for the future, to be of greater aid to her and the others.
Alex found that her test was a series of obstacle challenges, likely testing her endurance and speed, though the odd part about it was what she found at the beginning, there was a chest and a sign informing her that, to accurately perform this test, that she had to store her heavy armor inside it and most of her weaponry. She was only allowed to use her bow and her attire, modified to better suit the jungle environment while not holding her back by getting tangled in anything, where she was happy to do so, even though she planned on asking Pinkie to make it lighter so she didn't get weighed down by it in the future. While she was doing that, however, a dart hit her arm and nearly knocked her off the ledge she was on, but she was able to regain her footing before removing the offending item, where her body shuddered for a moment as she felt a new power awaken inside her, followed by her fingernails and toenails becoming sharper, like feline claws. That was followed by tiger fur growing all over her body as more of her changed, where she found that her ears turned into cat ears and a tail emerged from her spine, before feeling her face push out as well, though once everything was said and done Alex found that she was faster, stronger, and more agile than before, capable of new feats that put a smile on her face as she found her symbol.
In the end the four of them regrouped outside the main temple after hitting all of their hidden targets, though as they did that Alex shifted on her new legs and bounced from side to side, as she enjoyed her body's new power and wanted to see what she could do in a fight, before handing Pinkie a crate.
"I need some modifications to my armor when we get back... you can do that, right?" Alex inquired, a question she didn't really need to ask, she just wanted to be sure that Pinkie could do it in no time, and she smiled as her friend accepted the new order as she claimed the crate for later, "Okay, let's see what's inside the temple."
What they discovered was a single chamber with a pedestal, which contained a Soulstone and a note that informed them that it was the one they were looking for, meaning Pandora had been testing them to improve their skills, though none of them were too disappointed by this and pocketed it as they headed back to the surface to prepare for the last trial they needed to overcome.