The group of ponies had seen the impossible three times already on that very trip into the mines. In their minds they feared that a fourth was bound to happen. Third time was the charm after all, as the saying went. Which was a fact in and of itself given that the most horrible surprise came last. None of them could even think about the conversion machine of the changelings. It was something they wished that nopony of their time wanted to behold.
Though they needed to venture deeper into the place. That very thought alone actually caused the emotions to be mixed. Some didn’t wanted to venture further yet the group always managed to bring them right back where they belonged. With Rarity still at the helm of their vessel, it could be going literally into any and every direction.
“We are getting closer, I can feel a new tingle in my horn. One unlike any of the other gems around here,” said Rarity to them. Then she pointed her horn into multiple directions. She wasn't a gem-huntress for nothing. The ability to find gems proved to be most valuable for the entire trip. From the moment since they came down there she wasn't leading them, she was guiding them.
Her horn –or better said: her magic– was leading the ponies right towards the gem. Sadly enough it had chosen to take the shortest route to it and thus allowed them to see the horrors of the changelings. It was a fact perhaps best left unspoken to the other ponies and the horn of the unicorn charged itself up to a degree that the aura became clearly visible.
They were already a good distance away from the chamber and in the dark hallways everything looked like it could collapse upon them at any moment. “I just hope that luck is on our side,” whispered Rarity to herself. She continued to point her horn in different directions.
The whispers were caught by the ears of the others without a doubt. Though they made perhaps the wise decision to not go into them. They had to fully trust upon Rarity from there on out. If they were to be able to find the gem they were set out to, who better than the ivory unicorn herself?
Perhaps the trust was placed a bit too high in her. Yet they had nothing else to fall back upon. It was trusting her, or end up somewhere in the cavern or conversion machine. Two sights that none of them wanted to see happen to them.
Pacing up and down before the place was the only thing that happened. Rarity herself was walking up and down the hallway as her horn continued to hum like a metal detector that had found something. The only problem was one little thing. “There is nothing here!” she exclaimed in a whispering anger. “There is nothing in this place that even remotely resembles a gem from the ancient times! All I see is just, rock, rock, and rock!”
All of them felt the same way though. And it was Rare Thinker who had already spoken that her magic had failed to see the difference between gems and stone. A comment that almost caused the lady to punch him right in the face. If it weren't for Velvet Fashion and the twins, blood would have been spilled already. The two couldn’t stand one another, even if they tried.
None of the ponies afterward dared to bring in something against the unicorn while they did happen to have certain suggestions as to what could have possibly been the matter. Even if they sounded ridiculous to say the least.
The ivory lady then began to tune her spell a lot more refined. With stern eyes she continued to walk up and down the hallway. Somewhere in that place was the gem hidden from them all. She could sense its very presence clearly yet couldn't seem to figure out just where it happened to be.
Frustration was rising within the mare her body before she finally came to a standstill in the middle of the hallway and turned her head towards one of the walls. The horn’s aura suddenly began to fade the more she walked towards the wall. “Interesting, very interesting indeed,” she spoke before her body made a turn and she walked to the opposing wall.
There kicked the horn back into action where it began to shine brightly again. Suddenly there was the feeling of realization that rushed itself through the unicorn. She knew where the thing laid and what kind of obstacle they still had to come across. “Oh now that’s clever indeed. Very, clever.”
“W-What is, miss Rarity?” Velvet Fashion questioned to her. She looked towards the mare with an expression of both wonder and terror. Something had sparked Rarity, something devious.
“Double wall.”
Suddenly did everything make sense to the ponies. In that one second they all understood just what was going on and why Rarity’s magic failed. Turned out that the solution on the matter was actually a lot easier than some of their plans had seemed to be. “Well, do you know how to open it?” asked Brush Drawn of her. He calmly walked over to the mare, hoping she had the right answer.
“Master Drawn, I do happen to have a couple spells yes, if you want me to wake up the entire changeling army that rests here.”
All of the sudden turned the face of the stallion both white from shock and red from embarrassment. “Oh, yeah, well, in that case. It might be better if we take it easy then.”
“Thank you,” Rarity added before she began to inspect the wall a bit more and up close. Something about it just didn't seem right in her eyes. “This wall, doesn't look solid if you look at it close enough. Whatever happens next, don’t interfere and follow if it works.”
“How do we know if it works?” Rare Thinker then spoke up as he had raised an eyebrow towards her methods.
“Trust me, you will see it when it happens,” grinned Rarity back to him. Her horn discharged itself and she took a couple steps back from the wall. Her eyes began to focus themselves upon the one spot where she thought it was possible. “Alright then, here goes nothing. Geronimo!” And then she just galloped straight towards the wall.
---
Everypony would have declared her crazy and thought that she would straight up crash into the wall of stone. Yet the thing that happened in reality was something that surprised them all to the very bone. For Rarity didn’t crash up against the wall, instead she was swallowed by it. She had disappeared out of the very fabric of reality and moved straight through solid rock itself.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think that’s quite the clear signal. Here goes nothing!” the eldest twin spoke to them. It would be fractions later that he also rushed through the wall. Followed by his younger brother and the only mare of the group.
It only left Rare Thinker out in the open who was still hesitating. Only to rush himself through when he heard the eerie sounds of the changeling echoing through the darkness.
Everypony shook their head before they looked up and saw just where they happened to have landed. A room that was filled with the slime of changelings against the walls and bits on the floor. Their worst nightmare had become a reality, that the changelings would have discovered it first. Yet there was still hope for them, for on the pedestal, it stood spinning and humming softly.
“The gem of the ancient times,” said Rarity in a soft voice. That was before a grin came to her face. “Any of you know what that gem is or does?”
In response could they all just shake their head. They didn't have a single clue on the fact of what it was. Though what they saw was a gem made up out of three different colors. Blue, red and green could be found all together in a wonderful gem.
“That is the gem that actually managed to bound the three races back in the ancient times after the events we celebrate as Heart’s Warming Eve to this day. A gift from all three races, for all three races. The red represents the unicorns and their wisdom. The blue is from the skies where the fierce pegasi soar freely. The green is from the ground that the earth ponies live on and execute their strength on,” explained Rarity to them. Her voice had filled itself with a certain joy.
The tale itself was something wonderful to listen to for certain, but Rarity still had one more fact that she had to tell each of them. “A magic unknown to our lands has been stored inside of that very gem. Perhaps it is why we live in harmony itself these days, but in the wrong hooves it holds the power to destroy everything.”
The unicorn began to stroke her mouth and chin. The time was actually there to take it and bring it back to the princesses, if she could even grab it that was. It were the marks of the changelings that worried her more than anything.