Hello once again, I'm back, and here is my third to last chapter for this story, enjoy.
Meanwhile, Spoiled Rich was ushering the two con men to hurry it up.
" Get down there already you two, they've caught us", said Spoiled Rich.
It was then, Cinch snuck up behind Flim, and gave him a light nudge with her foot, causing him to fall in.
" Okay, that was not cool", said Flam, only for him to shriek as Spoiled nudged him down the hole.
The group ran, down a large cave hall, no turns or corners, or even any openings within the walls, they just kept going onward.
" Keep up, and don't look back", said Applejack, shining her flashlight ahead of her, hoping to find the other end of the large hall.
" How much longer, my legs are hurting", said Scootaloo.
" Here, hop on my back squirt", said Rainbow Dash, helping Scootaloo up.
" Hey look, I think I found light", said Pinkie Pie.
" That's coming from the flashlight Pinkie", said Applejack.
" Ooh, oops, my bad", said Pinkie Pie.
Meanwhile, Spoiled Rich, Flim, Flim and Cinch were hot on their tail, catching up.
" Are they gaining on us", said Sweetie Belle.
" I can't see them", said Spike turning around.
" Don't look back", said Twilight, as Spike kept up with the others.
" But I can definitely hear them", said Spike.
" I can't hear them", said Pinkie Pie.
" Dogs have 10 times better hearing than humans", said Spike.
" Hey, I see light", said Pinkie Pie.
" It was funny the first time Pinkie", said Applejack.
" No seriously, this time I see it not from the flashlight", said Pinkie Pie.
" She's right, look", said Sunset, pointing onward to show the end of the hall.
" Oh wow, sorry Pinkie", said Applejack.
" It's okay Applejack, we all make mistakes", said Pinkie Pie.
Once they all got out of the dark hall, they found themselves in a small chasm, beneath is a river rapid, above is a large log, laying like a bridge, between the two ends of the chasm.
" Alright, I don't know how safe that log bridge is, so one at a time, and be careful, if any of us falls, it could be the end", said Applejack.
And so, one by one, each of the girls went safely across the log, with Applejack first, followed by Applebloom, and it kept going until Pinkie Pie was the last human to walk across, all that left was Spike.
He turned around after hearing them.
" Hurry, I see light", shouted one of the con men, he couldn't tell who though.
" They're definitely gaining on us", said Spike, as he walked onto the log.
" No fair, we've been clearing through so many obstacles for them, maybe they should do one", said Rainbow Dash.
" Wait, I have an idea", said Spike, as he stopped halfway.
" What are you doing Spike", said Twilight, it was then she noticed a yellow puddle forming underneath Spike.
" Augh, yuk", yelled Twilight, grossed out.
" That is just gross", said Rarity.
" Disgusting", said Sunset.
" And to think Twilight let's you sleep in her bed with that penis", said Pinkie Pie.
" Augh, never say that again Pinkie, I mean it", said Twilight.
" At least I bought us a bit of time, and if none of us wants to waste any of it, I suggest we keep running", said Spike.
Meanwhile, the two well known con men, Flim and Flam, showed themselves to the group.
" Well, ain't this a coincidence", said Flim.
But the Rainbooms took no notice of them as they fled up to the next room.
" Don't let them get away", hissed Spoiled Rich.
And so, Flim began to walk onto the log, however, as soon as he was halfway, he slipped, and fell onto the log, landing with his legs around it.
Flam, Spoiled Rich and Cinch winced at the painful display they witness.
" Brother, are you okay", said Flam.
" Nnoooooo", squeaked Flim in a high pitch tone.
" Alright, I got you", said Flam as he began to walk onto the log.
However, before he could help his brother up, he felt himself slipping on the same substance his brother slipped on, and landed onto the log in the same position.
Cinch and Spoiled Rich winced at that as well, however, Spoiled Rich was the first to recover from the painful sight.
" Get up you two, they're getting away, if we lose them, it's all over", said Spoiled Rich.
It was then they both discovered a large wave of water coming towards the bothers, and all the two privileged Karen's could do was watch as Flim and Flam were getting submerged.
And so, the group walked up to the next cave, where they find themselves in another dark room.
" What are those two doing here", said Applejack.
" They must've known about the treasure", said Sunset.
" Oh I get it know, and they're following us, and will try and steal it from us", said Applebloom.
" I bet Spoiled Bitch has something to do with it", said Applejack.
" What makes you say that", said Rarity.
" Yesterday afternoon, Flim and Flam stopped by my house to give us the papers required to sell our home, they said they're working with her", said Applejack.
" She must've sent them after us to sabotage our chances of getting the gold", said Rainbow Dash.
Applejack noticed her flashlight was going dim.
" Hey Applebloom, do you have anymore of those batteries", said Applejack.
" Yes, but I'm nearly out", said Applebloom, as she gave her older sister two new batteries.
They looked around until they uncovered a small table, with 12 cylinder tiles, nearly placed in 3 rows of 4 columns.
On top of it is also a scroll.
" I'll translate this", said Sunset.
" It must be another puzzle", said Rainbow Dash.
" Hopefully that means we'll get the final key", said Babs.
" Meanwhile I keep a lookout on the Flim Flim brothers, see how far they are from us", said Spike as he headed back to where the log bridge was.
" I'll go with him", said Fluttershy, trying to catch up with Spike.
" I've got it", said Sunset, " It's a memory matching game".
" What do we do", said Twilight, as everyone gather towards the table.
" You know, turn two tiles, and get a matching pair, the clue says we must make a matching pair of symbols from the tile, should we get a wrong tile, they'll turn back on their own, we need to get four matching pairs to enter the next room, we need to complete the table to win the final key", said Sunset.
" That should sound easy enough", said Pinkie Pie.
" But there's a catch", said Sunset.
" Ah, I thought so", said Pinkie Pie.
" Should we five mistakes, we will die", said Sunset.
" How", said Sweetie Belle.
" I don't know, it doesn't say anything about how", said Sunset.
" Well then let's not find out then, I mean, there's twelve of us, well, ten because Flutters and Spike and keeping a lookout on Flim and Flim, but still, at least one of us should keep a full memory on each tile", said Rainbow Dash.
" Yeah, although the game has just started, and we don't know what the symbols are or where they are, but since we're allowed to make four mistakes, we're just going to have to wing it on the first go", said Twilight.
" We'll start with the top left corner, and work our way along", said Rarity.
And so, Twilight moved the first tile, revealing a symbol of an X.
" Okay, X is the first symbol, eleven tiles left, one in eleven chance I get a match, or 9% give or take", said Twilight.
She turns the tile next to it, revealing a symbol of an Arrow, causing red smoke to appears, and a portion of the floor crumbled, revealing a deep abyss, Rainbow Dash yelped as she nearly fell, but she was caught by Scootaloo, Applejack and Babs as she was helped back up.
" At least we now know what happens to us if we fail", said Pinkie Pie.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Spike were at the edge of the room, and they looked down to see Flim and Flam still being shoved in the water current.
" Flim and Flam are a little preoccupied at the moment", Fluttershy called out to the girls.
" Yeah, but you all need to hurry up, I don't know how long it'll take, until they start getting back up", Spike called out.
" Well, if we look at the remaining ten tiles that we haven't looked at, there is a 20% we'll find the other arrow or X", said Twilight.
She turned the third tile, revealing an X.
" Wait, where was the other X again, I forgot", said Twilight.
" The top left corner", said Applejack.
" Okay, sometimes even if the odds aren't in our favor, there's still a chance", said Twilight, turning the other tile, revealing a match.
" Excellent, three more and we'll make it through, four more and we'll get the key", said Sunset.
" And since there's still nine more tiles we have yet to search, there is a one in nine chance we'll find the other Arrow, or 11%", said Twilight.
She then turned the tile at the top right, revealing a symbol of an eye.
" Eye symbol, somewhere in the middle or bottom row", said Sunset.
" One in eight we'll find it, or 12%", said Twilight.
" Twilight, we get it", said Rainbow Dash.
Taking a chance, Twilight went for middle row, right side, revealing the symbol of a hand, red smoke appeared, and another portion of the ground crumpled, Sunset nearly fell off into the abyss, but Applebloom, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Sweetie Belle helped her back up.
" Okay, so we know, the tile next to the top left corner is an arrow, the top right is an eye, and the one below the top left is a hand, that still leaves us with seven tiles, three of which we need to get a matching pair", said Twilight.
She then turns the next tile, revealing a foot symbol.
" Well, if we get the wrong one, there's a 50/50 chance it's the one we need to match the symbols we have found", said Twilight.
She then turns the next tile, revealing an eye, red smoke once again, for the third time appeared, and another portion of the ground crumbled, Scootaloo fell this time, but Rainbow Dash and Babs pulled her back up.
" You alright squirt", said Rainbow Dash.
" Yeah, I'm fine", said Scootaloo, as she kept her arms wrapped around Rainbow Dash, who rubbed Scootaloo's back in comfort.
Meanwhile, back with Fluttershy and Spike, they looked down to see Flim and Flam finally getting out of the current, and are making their way up the slippery slope.
" They're coming", Fluttershy called out, " They just got out of the current, and are making their way up".
" How close are you to finishing", said Spike.
" Okay, no pressure Twi, we may still have two more chances, but maybe it's better we didn't make anymore from now on, or we won't be so lucky next time", said Applejack.
" Hey, why don't you do this, this game doesn't take that kind of skill, just memory, besides, I know which two tiles both have eyes", said Twilight.
She then turned both mentioned tiles, and it was revealed to be another match.
" Excellent, we're halfway there, only two more to find", said Rarity.
" But we still next to clear the table to get the key", said Applebloom.
" If we find three more matches, then it should be obvious where the remaining match is", said Sunset.
" There's still five tiles we haven't searched, and the five symbols we know are an X and an Eye, which we found, along with an Arrow, a Foot and a Hand, which we haven't made a match of, there's still one last symbol we haven't discovered", said Twilight.
She then turns the next tile, one other side, below the top right side, revealing a hand.
" Does anyone remember where the other hand is", said Twilight.
" Here, middle tile", said Rarity, pointing at the left side of the table.
Twilight turned the tile, revealing another hand, a third match.
" Excellent, we're getting there, just one more and we'll just the door to open, two more and the key is ours, we're now going to search through the bottom row", said Twilight.
She then turns the bottom left corner tile, revealing the sixth symbol, a fish.
" Okay, the other fish in on the remaining three we've yet to search, brace yourselves", said Twilight.
As everyone kept hold of each other, Twilight turned the next tile, revealing, another fish, a fourth match.
" Four matches, well that was just easy, anyone who wants to get off, can do so, I'm searching for the last two pairs, and getting that last key", said Twilight.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy looked back down to try and find Flim and Flim, only to discover they're not there.
" I can't see them", said Fluttershy, " I think we lost them".
However, as she said that, Flim appeared out of nowhere, Fluttershy shrieked as Flim grabbed her.
" Hey, get your filthy hands off her", growled Spike, as he leaped towards Flim, and bit his leg.
Flim yelped by the sudden attack that he let his guard down, meanwhile Fluttershy was struggling to get out of Flim's grip that she accidently slammed the back of her hand onto the side of Flim's head.
The sudden strike stunned Flim, causing him to go dazed, as he slipped and fell back into the river, bumping into Flam, knocking him down as well as they both went down.
" I didn't mean to do that", said Fluttershy.
" It's not your fault Fluttershy, you were just defending yourself, I just hope that bought us some time", said Spike.
" We better catch up with the others, I think they're nearly done", said Fluttershy, as she and Spike headed back into the room, to rejoin the others.
Meanwhile, Twilight was just about to make her next move, she turned the bottom right tile, revealing a Foot.
" Okay, I think I know where the other foot is", said Twilight.
However, Fluttershy and Spike returned.
" Hurry, they're...", Fluttershy couldn't finish as she tripped and landed on the others, causing Twilight to fall forward, and accidently turn a random tile
The last of the outer circle floor crumpled after red smoke appeared for the fourth time, and both Fluttershy and Spike fell off, Applejack turned to grab her arm in time, while Spike kept hold of Fluttershy's leg.
As Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy's other arm, she and Applejack pulled the timid girl and Spike up.
" What's with the running", said Applejack.
" They're coming, I nearly got captured but Spike saved me", said Fluttershy.
" You should've seen her, she docked one of them in the face, it was brilliant, it was awesome", said Spike.
" It was an accident", said Fluttershy.
" It bought us time to hurry up", said Spike.
" Alright, everyone get to the next room, I'll sort through the last tiles", said Twilight.
And so, as everyone walked across a small stone drawbridge, until it was just Sunset and Twilight.
Twilight turned the last tile searched, revealing the arrow.
" By memory, the arrow is here", said Twilight, turning to the top row.
" Hopefully it's not wrong", said Sunset.
" You better join the others, I don't want anyone dying because of my mistakes", said Twilight.
" I believe you're right Twilight, you got the right tile", said Sunset.
" Well, if you're that determined", said Twilight, she turned her chosen tile, revealing another arrow, second last match.
" And the last two are feet, quickly", said Sunset as Twilight turned the last two tiles, revealing feet, and so, a large gold key appeared in the center of the table, and Twilight grabbed it.
" The gem is black, ebony", said Twilight.
" We can worry about that later, we need to catch up with the others", said Sunset, as she and Twilight crossed the bridge, and caught up with the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, Flim and Flam finally made it inside the room, only to find everyone gone.
" You two messed up once again", said Spoiled Rich as she walked past them.
" Now we've got no way to get across that abyss", she continued.
" No wait", said Cinch, " I have an idea".
Meanwhile, Sunset and Twilight continued running as to catch up with the rest of the group, as soon as they did, they noticed the others waiting for them.
" Okay, now that we're all together, where's the next entrance", said Twilight.
" It's over there", said Rainbow Dash, pointing next to them, Sunset and Twilight turned as they discovered the entrance to another cave, and it looks more like a waterslide.
" Alright everyone, quickly, down the slide, I don't know how close Flim and Flam are, it's going to take more than a wide and deep abyss to make them give up", said Sunset.
And so, Applebloom went down first, followed by Babs Seed and Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash went down afterwards, Fluttershy held onto Spike as she went down, and although reluctant, Sweetie Belle also went down, with Rarity.
Which leaves Twilight, Sunset and Applejack.
" You two go down next, I'll cover you", said Applejack, as she looked back in case they were followed.
Twilight then went in next, followed by Sunset, and finally, Applejack.
Everyone all screamed in terror/joy/excitement as they were all sliding down the waterslide, some of them kept spinning around, Applejack kept a grip on her flashlight, while Fluttershy accidently lost hold of Spike.
After a couple of minutes, Applebloom slid out of a small hole, into a pool, same with Babs Seed, and Scootaloo.
" WHEEEEE", cheered Pinkie Pie as she slid out.
" OOOHHHH SHIIII...", Rainbow Dash couldn't finish as she landed into the pool.
Spike and Fluttershy landed in next, followed by Sweetie Belle, and Rarity.
Twilight was the third last to slide out, and after her was Sunset, second to last.
And Applejack got out last.
" Is everyone alright", said Applejack.
" Yeah, I'm good", said Sunset.
" Me too", said Rainbow Dash.
" Hey guys, look", said Scootaloo, pointing onward, the group turned, and their eyes widened at the sight before them.
What they see, is a large temple, giant pedestals surrounding the temple, and a large flight of stairs, statues of animals like jaguars, crocodiles, snakes and barracudas squirting out water, like a fountain.
" We found it, this is it, Priest Tokamak's temple", said Sunset.
Everyone cheered, as they finally made it to the temple, and glad that they all made it without losing anyone.
And so, once everyone was out of the water, they began climbing the stairs.
And once they were at the top, the looked at the door, as well as a small little statue, with 5 holes.
" This looks weird", said Pinkie Pie, gesturing to the statue.
" Wait, look at the holes, the look like keylocks", said Twilight.
" Which means...", Sunset turned to the others as they realized the same thing.
Twilight took out the five keys from her bag, " Now all I gotta do is sort out which key goes where", she said.
" I don't think these keys go in any random place, look at the lock, it looks like an arm, with the top looking like a hand without it's fingers", said Rarity.
" She's right, which means the keys represent fingers, because of their size, which means, because it's the largest key, the Ebony key is the middle finger", said Applebloom.
" The what finger", said Applejack as she recovered from zoning out for a moment.
" This finger", said Applebloom, sticking out her middle finger, only for Applejack to swat her little sister's hand.
" No, she's right", said Rarity, placing the Ebony key in the middle, which still leaves two spaces on one side, and two on the other.
" The Ruby key and Sapphire key are the same size, one of them must be the index finger, and the other must be the ring finger", said Rarity.
After putting the two mentioned keys side to side with the Ebony key, all that was left was two empty key holes.
" The Amber key is much smaller and wider, it has to be the thumb, which leaves the Emerald key being the pinky finger", said Fluttershy.
And so, she placed the Amber key next to the Ruby key.
" I guess that means we know know the Ruby key is the index finger, while the Sapphire key is the ring finger", said Rarity as she placed the final key, the Emerald key, next to the Sapphire key.
And once all of the keys were placed in their correct keyholes, the door opened.
They went inside and looked around, and was amazed at what they saw.
Piles of gold coins, and gems of emeralds, rubies, diamonds.
And before them, at the end of the temple, on top of a shrine, was the heirloom.
" A vase", said Babs Seed.
" A gold one, covered with gems and unbreakable", said Rarity.
" This is it, we finally got it", said Pinkie Pie.
" Well, what are we all standing around for, everyone fill your pockets", said Rainbow Dash.
" Don't mind if I do", said Rarity, as she was about to go for the vase, when Sunset stopped her.
" Wait Sunset, the vase is Tokamaks, take anything else, but not the vase", said Sunset.
And so, everyone began filling up their pockets with gems, Applebloom also began filling her bag pack with the treasure.
She also emptied out her marble bag, and placed them next to the heirloom.
" I hope you like them", said Applebloom, as she then began to fill her marble bag with gems and coins.
" And we still loads of time left until dark", said Applejack.
" Wait, what about the Flim Flam brothers", said Twilight.
" I have an idea, we'll make a trail of coins in one cave, and hide in the other, and once they stray from us, we make a run for it", said Applebloom.
" That sound like a great idea".
" Why thanks, whoever said that", said Applebloom.
" Too bad you're too late".
Everyone turned around to see.
" You", Twilight said, shocked as Cinch stood in front of them, next to her was Spoiled Rich, and Flim and Flam.
" Long time no see", said Cinch.
And a slight cliffhanger to end the chapter, another chapter done, three quarters of the story finished, and only two more chapters to go, until next time, that's all for now.