//------------------------------// // Descent Into Danger // Story: Equestria Ninja Girls: The Thievius Raccoonus // by RainbowRaptorDash1 //------------------------------// After resting a bit, Sly and the Beauty Trio went ahead past the broken gate. "You ran into skeletons, ghosts and tree monsters?" Rarity asked. "Yeah." Sly answered as Adagio just sighed at that. "It was like a horror movie." Karai said. "I can only imagine what truly happened in there!" Rarity shivered in fear. "They were generated by some kind of tombstone or something." Sly explained as that just made Adagio sigh again. "Let's find those last two keys." Adagio said as she, Sly and the other two girls arrived at the next area. "What is that thing?!" Rarity gasped as she, Karai, Adagio and Sly saw a giant machine mixing the swamp water. "Bentley, any ideas?" Sly asked. "Looks like some kind of giant voodoo egg beater to stir up that unsanitary mess." Bentley answered. "Still no guards." Adagio noticed. "You might wanna look again." Bentley pointed out as Sly and the Beauty Trio looked down and saw two shamans under the device, keeping an eye out for anything odd. "Strange." Adagio said. "There’s seven keyholes on that thing." Karai noticed. "If we could unlock the cauldron’s lid, we might be able to thrash their production and build up enough steam pressure to get launched up to Ruby’s skull temple." Sly explained. "What about the shamans?" Rarity asked. "Sounds like we’ve got a plan. To get around that thing without getting caught, try moving in the shadows made by the masks so that the guards won’t see you." Bentley answered "Good idea." Karai agreed. "I’ll go with Sly this time." Rarity volunteered as the group split up into two and stayed quiet. Meanwhile with Sly and Rarity... "Spotlight!" Sly pointed out as he and Rarity braced against the wall as it passed. Soon, the duo found themselves in a huge swamp. "I see the vault." Rarity noticed. "Looks like we’ll have to get to higher ground and knock out the guards." Sly noted as Rarity fired a grappling hook and the two climbed across it. "Oh my!" Rarity gasped as she and Sly saw machinery and spotlights at their destination. "Look at all the security. This must be the source of all the disgusting green soup!" Bentley informed. "Hold me steady, Rarity." Sly said before Rarity lowered him down as the master thief pickpocketed the code from a nearby guard, before something fiery whooshed past the snow leopard, making Rarity panic and flail Sly around. "Rarity! What happened?!" Bentley asked. "Something on fire just sped right past me!" Rarity shouted. "Whoa! I guess the source has its own defense system! Look!" Bentley noticed as Rarity looked and saw the source summoning flaming skulls before they flew at Rarity. "Unlock the vault!" Rarity panicked. "Bentley!" Sly yelled. "These codes are nothing before my righteous analytical ability! The combination has to be 5-7-1." Bentley informed as Sly inputted the code, before opening the vault and grabbing the page. "Mind-bending! It’s Matthew de la Coopeur’s Perpetual Slow Motion Technique. With this move you and the girls can slow down time whenever you want, not just while jumping." "Cool, now to pull you up." Rarity said as she was pulling Sly up, unaware a Shaman was readying to attack her, but then time suddenly started slowing down expect for Rarity and Sly. "Huh?" "Wait, that must’ve been the technique on the page!" Sly noticed as Rarity turned around and saw her attacker. "Good thing you did it." Rarity said in relief. "We got to meet up with the others." Sly said as he and Rarity destroyed the machine. "What about the key?" Rarity asked. "They'll probably need help getting it." Sly answered before the duo heard something opening. "Get ready." Sly said as he and Rarity went back down from the destroyed machine, only to find that a secret passageway has opened. "What is it?" Rarity requested as Sly looked inside and saw something. "Hey Rare, there’s a key in here." Sly answered. "Then what are the others doing?" Rarity asked as Sly went in and grabbed the key. "Let’s head back and find out." Sly responded. "It's not hard to knock down those skeletons." Karai's voice said as Rarity and Sly looked behind and saw her and Adagio, looking a little singed. "The trick is getting them to stay down." "Did you use some kind of high-energy cannon?" Sly asked. "Sort of." Adagio answered. "I tried to explain it to them." Bentley said. "Guys, can we hurry? This place is starting to scare me." Murray timidly asked. "Don't worry, Murray. We're almost done." Sly answered. "Yes, we have all seven keys." Karai agreed. "Be careful, you’re probably walking into a trap." Bentley warned. "I think we know that." Rarity responded. "And we've survived worst." Adagio added. "Like hearing Sly in stereo?" Bentley quipped as the girls stifled a snicker at that. "Let's go." Sly said as he and the Beauty Trio went off to unlock the cauldron.