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Cream Adventure

"Okay... no need to panic, Cream. You just have to remember how you got here...and why you're naked!" Cream Heart yelled, her voice echoing in the large, partially illuminated chamber she found herself in. Looking around proved to be futile as she couldn't detect any exit point and her clothes were nowhere to be found.

"Hello! Hellooooooooo! Can anypony hear me?" She called out, her voice once again echoing in the empty chamber, her only response coming in the form of the calming sound of flowing water and droplets falling from the ridiculously high ceiling. "Arrrrgh, this is futile... Well, at least I'm alone and I don't have to worry about anyone seeing me like this," she said whilst examining her shapely, voluptuous body in search of any bruise, cut, or wound. Thankfully, she found none.

"How did I end up here in the first place? I was... searching for something? Yeah, I was searching for something. Then, I found a hatch and everything went black... doesn't explain why I'm naked though. Hmmm, I wonder where my Button can be? At least he doesn't have to see me like this."

The sudden thought of her son appearing from somewhere to see her in that compromising position came to her mind and was surprised that she didn't dislike the idea nearly as much as she should. "I wonder if it'd be okay for him to see me like this?" She questioned herself in a rhetorical manner. "I mean, I've seen him naked a lot of times and he does hold a stash of my stolen panties... Aaaarrgggh! Control yourself, Cream! Now's not the time to have such thoughts! I need to get out of here."

Shaking her head and looking around the room again, she tried to find any irregularity to it, but found very little. There were a few torches mounted on the walls, shining crystals that illuminated the room enough to allow her a decent amount of visibility, and a rather large pond that was more of a pool than a pond.

First, she tried to find a secret lever by twisting and pulling at the torches, but they were just regular torches and holders. Then she tried to find any strange symbols on the ground and walls but found nothing except for a single spiral symbol at the other side of the pool.

"Hmmm, I know I've seen that symbol before... but where?" Looking at the water with no small measure of distrust, she tentatively approached it until she was able to dip a foot into the water. "Ohhh, my! It's quite pleasant and warm! There must be a vent somewhere. But if the water is coming from a vent, then it must lead somewhere," she sighed. "How deep is this pool anyways?" Leaning forth to peer over the edge, she was amazed to find not a dark pit but an illuminated pool with some form of crystalline structures letting her see the bottom.

Running calculations on her head with the use of her previous knowledge as a scuba diver (and other less clothed practices), she quickly deduced the depth of the pool. "Twenty maybe twenty-two meters deep, eh? And still, no other symbols seem to be present on the walls. Hmmm, well, since there is no exit route here on sight and there are no secret passages, then maybe the exit is somewhere beneath the water," she reasoned and couldn't stop her body from shivering with excitement at the thought of submerging into the clear, warm water.

"Well, I'm not going to get out of here just standing around," she said to herself before jumping into the water. A moment later her head emerged and she sighed deeply. "Goodness gracious, how long has it been since I got to enjoy myself like this?" Shaking her head as she chuckled, she slowly swam to where the spiral symbol was engraved on. "I swear I've seen it before... it feels so familiar," she muttered as she traced a finger over the spiral. "I wonder," she whispered before pressing against the symbol with increasing strength until a click echoed in the room and a groan was heard.

Using her feet to push herself away from the wall, Cream Heart looked around for any source of escape or danger. She found it a few seconds later when a large section of the wall around five meters below the spiral vanished revealing a set of iron bars that groaned as they moved into the stone.

"A secret passageway was hidden behind an illusion spell! Who would've guessed?" She said cheerfully but soon her merriment died down and was replaced by an odd mixture of excitement and dread. "Oh gosh... oh my gosh... is this some kind of ancient maze?" Looking at the open path, she gulped. "It certainly looks like it. How did I get myself trapped in this mess?" She wondered but shook her head and sighed almost immediately after. "Well, it doesn't matter now, I suppose. If I want to get out of here I better get going."

She didn't immediately dive beneath the surface. She was suddenly extremely thankful for her experience and took several minutes calming her breath, controlling her intake, and relaxing her body; tensing her toned muscles and striking figure every now and again.

Feeling sufficiently prepared, she took a large breath and then began to swim down the open passageway using a frog-style swimming technique. She quickly reached it and the pressure of the water became palpable, though not at all discomforting. She was happy to find that crystals were located sparsely every few meters on the walls of the passageway to light her way. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to continue without at least a measure of light to let her see below water more clearly. She was also thankful for her diving experience again and her ability to see at the same level she did on land.

Putting aside her momentary trepidation, she began to swim into the long underwater corridor, switching her frog style to slow but strong leg paddling and wide arm strokes to impulse her forward.

I wonder how big this maze is. Who built it and why here? Hmmm, now that I think about it, I should avoid overstraining my lungs too much. I don't know how long I might be trapped and the last thing I want is to suffer a pulmonary edema, she thought as she began to search for any pockets of air while releasing small bubbles through her nostrils every twenty or so seconds.

She continued to swim for nearly two minutes without pause and she encountered her first obstacle. She had to blink a few times just to comprehend what she was seeing. She had stumbled across a conundrum. It splits in five different directions!? She thought, outraged, nearly making her exhale a large amount of her precious limited supply of oxygen.

Indeed, not wanting to believe her eyes, she numbered her available options. The first was to continue swimming for what looked to be a hundred meters or more long tunnel directly ahead of her. Her other four options divided themselves into direct ninety-degree angles in different directions. The second option was to follow a tunnel to the right. The third option was the same but to the left. The fourth option was a path going directly up and she could see the surface of the water ten or so meters above her. Finally, the fifth option was the only one she disliked as it led down for just as long as the fourth option but lacked illumination near the bottom where she could see another turn leading to the unknown.

Opting for the most sensible answer, she slowly made her ascend through the fourth path until she reached the surface. "Bbbffuuaaaah!" She exhaled and then gasped for breath in a calm, collected manner.

As her vision quickly readjusted, Cream Heart found herself in a similar room as the first one. It was larger and lacked any source of water except for the tunnel she came from and a fairly sizable open pool that was shallow and the edges were dotted with stairs for easy access. Stepping onto dry land proved to be an easy affair and she sighed. "Better make sure this place doesn't have any nasty surprises in store for me."

Resolute and oddly excited, she proceeded to inspect the room and quickly found a few interesting things. The most prominent of them was that in the middle of the room laid a series of objects. All set in a single file. First was a row of three identical chests that bore a different and strange mark instead of a keyhole. Immediately behind the chests, a small shrine holding a necklace stood, the necklace itself was protected by a magical barrier, a set of iron bars, and strange steam flowing from the center of the shrine which only enveloped the necklace. Finally, behind the shrine, she saw a carving on the floor that looked suspiciously similar to the room she was in and four gem-like holes at each corner of it.

The second odd thing she found was on the ceiling, no less than thirty and up to fifty meters above her head, there were no mirrors this time and she saw a single opening that led to complete darkness.

"Hummm, I wonder...," Cream Heart muttered as she moved to the top left side corner and frowned at what she found. "It looks to be a trapdoor of sorts. But why is it so big? It's five by five, at least, and made out of... some sort of metal?" She said to herself, kneeling to touch the surface of the trapdoor. Spurred by her discovery, she walked over to every corner of the room only to find three identical trapdoors. She then tried knocking on them, punching, stomping, and finally jumping on them, but nothing seemed to work, not even with her enhanced physical strength as an earth pony.

"So, they are either sealed or purely decorative, though that echo sure as Tartarus doesn't help ease my nerves," Cream Heart muttered, her mind traveling back to the dark tunnels she'd seen so far. The thought that she'd have to go through them scared her since she despised the darkness, but it also intrigued and aroused her slightly. Letting out a sigh, she made her way back to the center of the room. "I wish my Button were here with me right now. Some company would be nice and I wouldn't be so afraid," with a defeated sigh, she examined the chest, shrine, and carvings once more.

Trying to force open the chests proved to be a futile endeavor, she wasn't crazy enough to try and touch the shrine, and the carvings told her nothing. Then, it hit her. "This is a puzzle... oh for Luna's sake, this is a darn puzzle!" She cried out, her heart filling with dread and joy in equal measure. "Calm yourself, Cream Heart! Yes, this is a foalhood dream come true but you're alone and you don't know what to do next!"

Thinking on what she was going to do, she scourged through her memories and everything she had discovered so far. "Let's see... the first room has nothing, so that's out. Then the path divided itself into five separate directions. Now I found this huge room, three chests, the shrine with the necklace, and the carvings on the floor. Think, Cream, think," she urged herself, pondering hard about what to do next.

Her eyes shone nearly two minutes later when an idea popped into her mind. What if... what if the keys or whatever I need to open the chests are at the end of the other passageways? She thought before turning back to face the small pool she came out from. "Only one way to find out if I want to get out of here."

Making her way calmly to the pool, she re-entered the water and swam until she was directly on top of the tunnel. Taking a few seconds to concentrate, she took a large breath of air and submerged. She quickly began to stroke and paddle downwards, grabbing onto the sticking-out gems on the walls to descend at an even pace. It only took her a few seconds to reach the intersection and swam to the left tunnel. She stopped instantly and her eyes widened, a couple of bubbles escaping from her mouth when she saw thick iron bars blocking her advance when she turned to continue. From what she could see, the path went on for about ten meters before bearing on a sharp turn to the left again.

Confused but undeterred, she propelled herself by using the wall as aid and went to the right-side tunnel. To her surprise, there was another set of iron bars blocking her way and the tunnel appeared to break into a zigzag pattern to which end she could only guess. At least it isn't dark, she thought before resigning to take the only true available route to her, the straightforward middle path.

Going back to the intersection, Cream Heart stared at the long tunnel in front of her for several seconds before nodding. She began to stroke her arms in a nice rhythm, ever aided by her paddling legs that kept her moving forward.

Choosing to avoid grabbing on the gems, for the time being, she focused all her efforts on maintaining her precious oxygen in her lungs. She was a pro at holding her breath and swimming underwater. But she knew quite well that she would only be able to keep doing it for so long and as time passed, her endurance and performance would gradually lower until she could no longer do it constantly.

Focus, Cream. You don't know how long you'll be here and you need to make every action count, she thought whilst looking at the significant distance still in front of her. She continued to swim nicely and evenly, releasing only the occasional small bubble of air to alleviate the pressure in her lungs. She was halfway through the tunnel when the ache of the lack of air and the first urge to breathe kicked in. As she continued to swim, she began looking for any bump or pocket of air available. No such luck seemed to be on her side at that moment.

Opting to trade a bit more effort in exchange for bursts of speed, she began using the gems and crystal illuminating her way to make her traverse faster.

"Ggrrrmm!" Her throat rumbled and she coughed a large amount of air as the stinging need to breathe and refill her lungs became more pressing. Hurrying her pace, the strain on her body increased but now she was only ten meters away. Five. Two!

She reached the end of the tunnel and looked up to an exit hole five meters above her. Ascending rapidly but with caution, she reached the surface.

"HHAAAAAAHHHH!" She gasped loudly for air before coughing a few times. "Made it!" She smiled victorious, elated to have broken her personal record without meaning to. She sat on the stone stairs similar to those she found on the upper passageway to catch her breath. Once she was more or less composed, she stood up and turned around to examine the room she was in now.

The room was similar in design to the others, the main difference was that it wasn't as big, the floor, about a meter above the small entrance's level, was littered with small squares around a square foot in size; each square portraying one of several symbols. At the center of the room laid a cylindrical object small enough to allow Cream Heart to see, at the other side of the room, a small pedestal holding some sort of emblem or key.

With no direct sunlight or given by mirrors like in the previous two rooms and only the strange crystals providing all the illumination there was, she began making her way towards the pedestal.

The second she stepped on a square, it began to glow and a whizz of mechanical movement reached her ears. Freezing instantly, she turned to the source of the noise, the cylindrical object, before it split open, aimed at her in a flash, and released a metallic bolt straight at her.

Cream Heart reacted before she could think about it, ducking for safety as the bolt narrowly missed her and then stuck against the wall behind her. "TRAP!" She shouted, jumping back in fear, her eyes never leaving the cylinder now revealed to be some sort of automated ballista. Tense moments followed and her heart raced, her body ready to jump back in the water, rollover, or throw herself to the ground to avoid another attack.

A full minute passed and nothing happened. Cautiously, she moved a little. Nothing happened. She moved to the side. Nothing happened. She moved again. Nothing happened. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she stood firmly once more. "Thank goodness it doesn't follow my movements," she muttered, happily. Her moment of joy passed quickly and her eyes turned to eye the still glowing symbol on the floor. Moving closer to examine it without stepping on any other square, she analyzed the symbol.

"A tree? What about you? The sun? And you? The moon... a spiral... a leaf... a waterfall... a fish... and a coin," she muttered as she found that the eight symbols she counted repeated themselves without a discernible pattern. "Looks like they were placed here at random. I bet all of them are enchanted and you-" she turned to the ballista. "-attack whatever steps on them, right?" She let out a deep groan of frustration. "So this is a puzzle! Now I really wish for Button to be here with me. He's so much better at solving puzzles than I am!"

Hugging herself for comfort, she began to think of a way to solve the problem before her. She was no skilled athlete, so there was no telling if she could dodge the next bolt if she made a mistake. And with no pattern in the figures, she had no idea what to do next. A few minutes of pondering past and she groaned. "Uuggghh, this is hopeless. There has to be a way to reach the other side that doesn't involve flying or magic... unless this place also makes sure to prevent cheating. If only there were rocks I could throw laying around here!" Though she doubted that would work.

Suddenly, as she stared at the symbols more closely, one of them spoke out to her. "That spiral... it looks like the one in the first room," her eyes widened and shifted to the ballista. With fear beating in her ears and courage burning in her heart, she tentatively reached out a leg to the nearest spiral square. Tense, cold seconds passed before she gathered the valor necessary to step on the spiral.

To her relief, it didn't glow and the ballista remained motionless. "Sweet heavens," she gasped for air, laughing nervously as she moved her other leg to the next spiral square. Holding her breath and her eyes fixed on the ballista, she lowered her foot. Nothing happened. "Okay... so... not to self, avoid stepping on the squares without a spiral!" She exclaimed as she stood on parted legs.

The next minutes were tense as she did her best to find balance with each step she took. Some were easy but most were difficult to reach, but she wasn't in a hurry. "Low and steady wins the race, after all," she muttered while sweat born from nervousness and fear began to cover her body, the water on her long since evaporated except on her tail and mane. Her voluptuous body trembled, her wide hips and ass along with her large bosom swayed with every movement she made.

She had covered two-thirds the way when she made a small mistake. She miscalculated the distance of her next movement and ended up stepping on two squares at the same time. The square with the fish lit up and the crying of metal was all she heard before she ducked and moved to the side as much as she could.

But it wasn't enough.

"Aaarrgghh!" She cried out when the bolt scratched her left arm just below the shoulder, tearing a line of crimson blood across her upper arm. "Dammit!" She cursed, hissing in pain as she could do nothing but take it and watch trickles of blood running down her arm.

Groaning and breathing rapidly, she continued on her way until she was about to reach the pedestal holding the key. To her relief, every square around it was a spiral. To her dismay, she would need to jump to cover the remaining distance. She gulped hard. She couldn't break into a run, the moment she did she'd be hit by a bolt. "And if I jump and I slip back, I'm skewered," she frowned and prepared to take her choice.

Without thinking twice, she jumped. She landed on the spirals and nearly fell back, managing to save herself thanks to her massive, milky breasts weighing her down as she moved forward. "Oh thank you! Thank you!" She chanted happily, safe and secure as she cupped her breasts, kissing them several times to show her appreciation. When her agitation returned to a level she could control, she let go and grabbed the emblem in the shape of a triangle with wings.

The moment she took it, the ballista closed and disappeared into the ground. The entire floor began to glow and metallic grinding echoed from all around her. Suddenly, as she looked around not knowing what was happening, a fountain of water that nearly reached the ceiling exploded from where the ballista had been.

"SHIT! Shit shit shit!" She cursed as she began to run to the exit, water quickly rising quickly by the second. She could barely hear her voice as the roaring water became all-encompassing in the rapidly diminishing area of the room. By the time she reached the exit, the water was about to cover her breasts. There was no time to prepare and no relaxation to consider.

With a large inhale of air, Cream Heart submerged, begining to swim back from where she came. Once the long tunnel was in front of her, she made use of her full strength as she lined up and launched forth with the use of her legs; the force of impact leaving a crack on the wall. But even as she resembled a torpedo for a few seconds, she never stopped paddling her legs and using her right hand to stroke; her left hand indisposed as she held onto the emblem tightly.

Gradually, the initial burst of speed died down until she was advancing at her regular pace, but she had covered half the distance in a single go. The terror that gripped her heart also lessened and without the rush of adrenalin flooding her system, the stinging pain of her injured arm and the rapid beating of her heart made themselves present.

The former was merely annoying. The latter was what captured her worry.

This is bad. This is really bad. I'm burning too much air too soon! Keep calm, Cream, keep calm. Now's not the time to panic, she thought a moment before a groan of metal echoed from behind her. Turning to see what it was without stopping, she saw bars of metal spring from the bottom of the tunnel every few meters, closing off the tunnel forever.

Me and my big mouth! She chastised herself internally as her efforts redoubled and now used the gems as support to advance more quickly at the expense of her rapidly dwindling supply of air. "Gggrmmll!" She gagged, releasing a large number of bubbles while her lungs started to burn in demand for new oxygen, completely oblivious to her current situation. "Nnngghh! Ghhmmm!"

She cried out as she swam with all her might, not sparing a second glance to see what was happening behind her. She didn't need to as the sound of metal intensified every few seconds, catching up to her with dreaded speed.

Ten meters! She cried out, using her right hand to grab onto any crystal she could reach while her legs paddled as fast as she could, each agonizing second marked by the even more dreadful feeling of her body crying out of denied fresh air. Five meters! She cried out again, ready to turn upwards and reach safety at the same time the fresh clang of metal bars echoed right behind her.

With fear turned into determination, she made it a second before the bars at the entrance of the tunnel emerged and doomed her. Without thinking it twice, gurgling and exhaling the last of the air left in her lungs, she cleared the water's surface of the large chamber. "BBBFFAAAAAAAAAA!!!" She gasped loudly before devolving into a fit of coughing as she lazily made it to the stairs and sat down to calm her nerves and breathe the precious oxygen she had been so cruelly denied.

Once she stopped trembling and her breathing returned to normal, she stood up and went straight up to the chests. She examined the emblem she had secured with the 'keyholes' of each chest, finding it was the right side chest that matched the emblem. She placed the emblem on the keyhole and waited for a few seconds. Before her eyes, the emblem merged with the chest, and seconds later, it opened.

"I swear if this is another trap I'm going to have a stern talk with whoever designed this dungeon," peering inside the box, Cream Heart discovered a small green gem glowing faintly. Carefully taking it out, she moved to the carving behind the shrine. Examining the gem now in her possession, she quickly deduced it had to fit on one of the holes present on the carving. She tried each hole until the gem magically locked with one of them. The gem shone brighter for a moment and when it died down, Cream Heart was able to hear the faint groaning of metal coming from somewhere, but not in the same room.

"Hmmm, maybe one of the other paths has-- what the hay?" She cut herself off when she turned to the shrine and witnessed the steam die out. "Well I'll be, it really is a necklace," she commented as she took a moment to admire the intricate, beautiful, and ancient-looking piece of jewelry. "I wonder what it is for?"

Shrugging, she turned to face the pool and sighed. "Time for another swim," looking at the injury in her arm, it pleased her to see the bleeding had stopped. Nodding to herself, she made her way to the pool, entering the water once more with a sense of growing excitement and passion despite nearly being trapped.

Now that her body was properly warmed up and her system was in 'diving' mode, she didn't need to focus before taking a large breath and submerging into the depths of the tunnel. She swam down, enjoying the warm feeling in her muscles with each stroke and paddle she took. Reaching the intersection proved to be an easy ordeal and the pressure around her was comfortable. As she feared, the central pathway was now forever sealed by several sets of iron bars.

Making nothing of it, she moved to the left path. Once she reached its end, she found the bars that were blocking her access before were gone. Without thinking it twice, she advanced, not wishing to waste time again. When she reached the part where the path bent to the left, she discovered it also continued for about five meters before twisting upwards. Narrowing her eyes, she advanced.

Up. Right. Left. Right. Down. Right. Cream Heart navigated through the twisting tunnel for almost a minute and a half when the lack of air began to be disturbing, her lungs demanding a new influx of the precious oxygen they craved. She was about to turn yet another corner when her hand brushed against a current of water.

It was a good thing she was a bit caitiff by nature, for had she not pulled her hand back it would've been skewered by a tiny needle that sprung from the side of the tunnel. "Grrllbbb!" She shouted, quickly closing her mouth as bubbles formed and escaped.

But Cream Heart was a clever mare. After all, she was a mother and that required one to be resourceful. Using her tail and whipping it around, she discovered another two spots. Taking a moment to examine the spots they had come out from, she saw the usually gray, stone walls were colored with a small red square.

Great, just what I needed, now I have to keep an eye for more of those. No rushing from here on out, Cream Heart thought, disheartened, as she evaded the streams of water. Moving forth, the strain on her lungs increased and the burning in her throat itched her to inhale. But she resisted the urge and kept moving forward despite having to move slowly to avoid getting a needle on her.

"Mmmpphh! Bblrrrgghhh!" She moaned and groaned, using a hand to cover her mouth and nose to prevent her from accidentally taking in water. Sue turned upwards again and her eyes sparkled from what she saw. Uncaring about any possible harm, she rushed to what looked to be a water surface. "Bbbffhaaaaah!" She gasped for air, her head barely fitting on the small pocket of air she had thankfully found. "Whoever designed this dungeon was downright sadistic!" She complained but couldn't stop smiling.

It took a few seconds before she could regain control of her breathing, her need for air satiated. "Come on, Cream, there's still a long way before you," she said before taking a large breath before submerging again, ready to continue her way.

She swam for several minutes, thankfully avoiding all traps and finding two additional pockets of air before finally arriving at the end of the puzzling, confusing tunnel. Like all the other rooms she had encountered so far, there was a pool at the submerged entrance of it and it was nicely lit by the strange glowing crystals littering the room. She had to blink a few times when she found the room she had arrived at was filled by rows of identical chests. "Let's see one, four, seven, ten? And how deep... ten again," humming with curiosity, she opened up a nearby chest, giving away remarkably easily.

The click of a mechanical instrument, a rush of air, and her quick reflexes saved her from a nasty injury, but it didn't save her from pain. "Aaaaaahhhh!" She screamed, holding her right hand as a small needle pierced it, though not enough to come out the other end. She jumped back and took the needle out, throwing it away. "Booby traps!"

She glared at the chests for a moment, but then calmed herself enough to search through the room for any clues, symbols, or anything that could help her. All she found was a single spiral symbol located three chests to the left of the one she had opened.

"Great, another puzzle. Not to self, have Button teach me how to solve puzzles. Hmmm, though this looks sort of familiar... but I can't quite put my finger on it," she said while washing away the blood pouring out of her new wound. After the stinging pain became an afternote, she moved to the chest that had the spiral symbol in front of it and searched for another but found nothing. Cautiously, she opened the chest slowly but no mechanical wiring reached her ears. After opening it completely, she found an inscription at the bottom that read 'The path starts here, retread your journey'.

Thinking about it for a moment, Cream Heart rubbed her chin. "The path starts here, retread your journey... retread your journey...," eyes the chest on the left, she gulped before taking a leap of faith. Opening it slowly, nothing came out of it. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, she smiled. "Well, maybe I'm not that bad at it myself."

She moved to the chest in front of her and opened it. Nothing happened. She spent the next two minutes carefully remembering every twist and turn she took in the correct order from the start of the puzzling tunnel until she reached the end of her road, standing on the seventh row, much to her surprise. "Now all the booby traps make sense," she muttered before opening the chest.

Inside it, she found another emblem. But this one had the shape of a prism with arrowheads on the sides. Taking it and not wishing to find out what trap it would trigger, she bee-lined it for the pool. She didn't hear anything and didn't notice it immediately, but by the time she reached the pool, she stopped and looked around the room.

Groaning, she jumped into the pool and began swimming cautiously to avoid getting punctured again. But as she swam, the light emanating from the crystals began to darken. Slowly.

Clenching her teeth tightly, she continued to swim whilst avoiding the traps as much as she could. But she was moving faster than before, trying to rush forth to the nearest pocket of air. She managed to get a few scratches and a full needle on her left thigh, though the pain wasn't as present as the burning in her lungs. She took out the needle that managed to puncture her leaving only a tiny wisp of red behind her.

"Gyaaaah!" She gasped when she reached the pocket of air, but she didn't have time to do more than take a few hard, ragged breaths before diving once more. Fear began to take a grip on her heart, desperation rising as the light around, behind, and before her died out little by little.

By the time she reached the second pocket, she could hardly see anymore as only small points of light were left to guide her.

"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry!" She cried out before taking a large breath of air. Now that she couldn't see properly and darkness slowly crept around her, her heart began racing faster and louder, so loud that she could feel it against her eardrums. Her chest felt like it was about to explode due to her beating heart, and she cursed herself for her lack of control. Her lungs and throat began to burn with need far sooner than she was used to, not to mention the mounting exhaustion was starting to get to her.

Desperation turned into determination causing her to swim as fast as she could, vaguely guided by her memories as the light completely died around her. "Mmmgghh! Ddbbbgghh!" She cried out, exhaling large amounts of bubbles as her body was either grazed, scratched, and outright stabbed a few times now that she was blinded.

But she kept advancing and thanked her lucky stars that while the maxed passageway was twisting and confusing to navigate, all she had to do was keep swimming forth until she bumped on a wall and searched for the next entry without turning back.

Her throat tightened and she clenched her teeth hard as the urge to breathe became more and more intense; a sweet, false lullaby hypnotically tempting her with the desire to stop the aching, the burning, the need to breathe again. She felt her cheeks balloon out like a chipmunk in an effort to keep as much air inside her as possible.

But with each stroke of her arms, with each meter she advanced, the pain mounted up and her building terror threatened to escalate into panic as only darkness greeted her and her strength left her body little by little. Then, feeling weak and her senses dulling, she saw light coming from below as she stumbled upon a wall. Her eyes lit up as her memory provided her with salvation and she stroked upwards.

"Caaaghh! Caaghh!" She coughed violently, breathing whatever air was available in that small third pocket of air. Whatever light that reached her was a welcomed sight over the endless darkness that had nearly swallowed her. She continued to breathe without thinking or saying anything, the emblem still held tightly in her left hand. Using her free hand, she pulled out the needles that had struck and embedded themselves into her body, causing only irritation and anger instead of pain.

"Hey, if you can hear me, buck you!" She cursed after nearly three minutes of calming herself and getting a hold of her senses and mind; her curse echoing around her, an omen dedicated to those that had built the dungeon she was now trying desperately to complete. A deep breath and she was gone again, now not in complete darkness and ready to continue as fast as possible.

Cream Heart reached the end of the mazed tunnel just before her need for air began to be too bothersome. She made her way back up to the large chamber, gasping for a new mouthful of air as her head cleared the water's surface. With an objective in mind, she bee-lined it to the two remaining chests and quickly found the center chest held the same form as the emblem in her possession. As it happened last time, the emblem merged with the chest and soon vanished, the chest opening slightly and allowing her to lift the lid.

Inside the chest, she found another gem, this time red, and took it to the carvings behind the shrine. She easily found the matching hole and another distant mechanical wiring reached her ears. Turning to the shrine, she saw the iron bars give way until they retreated into the ground, leaving only the magical barrier as the last line of defense.

Nodding and ignoring her light but numerous wounds, she made it back to the pool. Like before, she took a deep breath and submerged herself into the water, ready to take on the next challenge before her. When she made it to the intersection, she moved to the right side and found the bars blocking her previously were gone. Undeterred, she advanced until her previous suspicions were realized and she found herself having to venture forth in zigzag.

Why would this tunnel be made like this? It's not entirely difficult to get around and it's more annoying than anything. Well, I suppose that as long as it doesn't have any traps, it'll be okay, Cream Heart thought while enjoying a rapid advance as she used her feet to cover nearly the entire distance between side to side on each turn. Almost two minutes later and the mounting need to breathe began to become uncomfortable, Cream Heart reached the end of the zigzagged tunnel. Or at least it appeared to be the end as she swam five meters upward to find the same sort of pool that led to the smallest chamber so far.

"After everything else I've encountered, this is both disappointing and a breath of fresh air. Looks like it's only slightly larger than my garage," she commented whilst looking around for any symbols, traps, painting, and anything else that could provide a clue to what she had to do now or for any potential traps, but only found a large carving on the floor in the shape of the now-familiar spiral symbol.

Aside from that, only a small shrine at the center of the room stood. It held a blue hexagonal shape with a small arrow piercing it, the same shape as the last chest on the large room. "This can't be that easy... where's the catch?" Searching for anything out of the ordinary in order to avoid getting in the mix of a trap, but found nothing except that which she had already found.

Glaring at the emblem, she grabbed it and then ran towards the pool, halting only a moment to see if something did happen. "Oh, great!" She whined when the spiral began to glow and from the pedestal, a small orb of light emerged. Against her better judgment, she waited to see what kind of surprise the orb held for her. The answer came when she felt the air around her move like a gentle breeze at first only for it to become faster and stronger by the second,

Her heart skipped a beat when her mane and tail started to be pulled in the direction of the orb. The same orb that was now moving towards her!

Taking a deep breath, Cream Heart jumped into the pool and began to swim as fast as she could ever aided by the gems in order to reach the zigzagged tunnel faster. Using her feet, she pushed against the wall, torpedoing to the other side in short order. She was about halfway through when the light of the orb began to illuminate the tunnel more than the crystals did. Almost instantly, she felt a drastic drop in her speed and the water around her began to twist around her, almost as if it was dragged into a vortex.

Fear turned into newfound terror when she looked back to find the orb advancing towards her. Taken over by desperation she began to stroke with her available arm and paddle as fast as she could, but now the trap of the tunnel made itself present: it was too narrow to swim quickly as she couldn't fully extend her arms without hitting the stone.

"HMMMGGHH!" She let out a screaming moan of pure terror as she tried to figure out how she was going to escape in time before her oxygen supply ran out. Maybe it was the terror or maybe a moment of creative genius, but she didn't think twice about opening her mouth to put the emblem in it, securing it with her teeth. Since the narrow tunnel wouldn't let her swim comfortably and the orb reduced her speed by dragging her into the swirling vortex it created, plus the force of the water around her nearly breaking her balance to doom her, she used her hands to drag herself away using the gems as support.

This is like climbing up a cliff but underwater! She thought in her panicked estate of mind, finding something to at least distract her from what could be her untimely end. But she endured, even as she started to gurgle, her lungs crying out for fresh air and losing whatever little supply they had left. The urge to breathe was strong, her senses dulled slowly with each movement she made and her vision began to get blurry, though not because of the lack of light this time.

With a final turn, she reached the end of the tunnel and the orb of light dissipated. Without the threat of certain doom behind her anymore, some of her strength returned, the conviction to escape overpowering the urge to breathe as she swam up to salvation.

"Hhhaaack! Hhaaack!" She coughed loudly the moment her head crossed the water's surface, gasping for air repeatedly as she sat on one of the stairs. Removing the emblem from her mouth, where she remained for a few minutes until her breathing was back to normal. "...Ah... s-so that's why the first two were reversed, huh? Just another trap," she said, angry and showing nothing but contempt, before getting up and walking over to the final chest.

She placed the emblem in the matching opening, waited for it to merge with the chest and open up, then took a blue gem out of the chest and placed it on the matching spot in the carving, leaving only one final gem to be gathered.

The magical barrier surrounding the pedestal shimmered out after a few seconds, leaving the necklace at her disposal. Grabbing it, she put it on and made her way back to the pool, her heart dreading the last destination she was to travel. Taking in a big gulp of air, she submerged once more and made her way down.

And down.

Deeper still after crossing the intersection to the fifth and final route.

The pressure of the water was only matched by the rapid beating of her heart as she reached the bottom and stared into pure darkness, only slightly pushed back by the light emerging from her necklace. Not wishing to stay in the darkness for more than what was necessary, she used her strength to propel herself forth, managing to cover a great distance before she started to paddle and stroke slowly, wishing to keep advancing and burn as little of her oxygen as possible.

There were no twists or turns, no traps so far, only a long corridor held in complete obscurity. Only the green, ominous light of her necklace gave her what little illumination there was to be found. A couple of minutes passed and the burning, aching need to breathe made itself present, still no change in the corridor to be seen. Suddenly, Cream Heart reached a point in which the tunnel bent upwards on a forty-five-degree angle, still held in complete darkness. Swimming faster, she began to ascend.

"Gglmrrrgh!" She choked all of a sudden, having to use a hand to cover her mouth as small bubbles escaped through the edges. Just as her movements began to slow down, she broke through the surface of the water, gasping for breath as she entered a completely dark room devoid of all light that didn't come from the necklace.

She couldn't see more than a few meters in front of her, but the room wasn't tiny like the previous one nor big like the other two. "Uggghh, what's that smell? The air is so stuffy and thick here I can taste it," she complained, trying to distract herself from the encroaching darkness.

Gulping and trying to get her legs to stop shaking, she began to explore the room rather cautiously. She quickly found out that the floor was tiled and that every tile had the spiral symbol on it. Fearing for a trap, she advanced even more slowly now, but nothing happened.

Eventually, she stumbled across the edge of the room and found that one of the tiles was reflecting light back at her. Stepping closer, she found a small golden gem resting in the middle of the spiraled tile. She took it with ease and returned post-haste to the pool at the entrance of the room. She was about to enter when she noticed a small inscription was present on the wall above the pool. "Beware what lurks in the dark?"

Not even wanting to think about the implications that phrase carried, she submerged below the water's surface with ease. And now that she was aware of the distance, she knew how much energy she could spend to get away as fast as possible from that horrid, dark place.

Her descent was uneventful but as she advanced, she felt more nervous with each passing moment. By the time she reached the end of the inclined tunnel, she stopped immediately when she felt something caressing her left leg. She turned around illuminating the dark tunnel but found nothing other than her tail, legs, and more darkness. Moving forth while her heart threatened to explode out of her chest, her strokes and paddling became faster.

But as she moved, she constantly looked back every time she felt something touch her ankles, caress her calves, or tickle her feet; threatening to grab her at any moment and drag her back into the darkness, never able to escape and see her precious son again.

The thought of Button gave Cream Heart the courage needed to ignore the slimy, warm tentacles and boney fingers reaching out to grab her. Her heart was pounding and her need for air became increasingly more bothersome as time went on. Clad in courage and certain that she was crying out of sheer terror, she reached the end of the tunnel, her necklace suddenly snapping into several pieces as she swam to the surface.

When she made it past the water's surface, she coughed and gasped for air again, laughing nervously as she examined her legs only to find... nothing.

Confused, she looked around and only then noticed that her vision was blurry but quickly returning to normal; each breath of fresh air cleansing her senses. She smiled and shook her head. "The entire room was a trap... no wonder the air smelled so funky," she whispered, taking a few moments to rest.

Feeling ready to continue, she walked over to the carving and placed the orange gem in the last remaining slot. Stepping back, she only had to wait for a few seconds before a beam of light shot from all four gems up to the ceiling. There was a cracking noise and a large slab of stone fell from the top. Cream Heart jumped back as the stone shattered into several pieces and a bright beam of sunlight illuminated the gravel it had created right on top of the carvings.

Before Cream Heart had any chance to ponder what she would do next, a loud, wheezing sound of mechanical parts echoed in the room, enough to force her to cover her ears. Suddenly, it stopped only to be almost immediately replaced by the rushing sound of water breaking through the four corners of the room creating vast pillars of water that nearly reached the ceiling.

The momentary spark of relief was turned into abject horror when she noticed the strength and volume of the columns filled the chamber with water at an alarming rate. Worse than that, the force of the water that now reached her knees and was quickly rising swooped her off her feet, making her unable to fight against the strong current it created.

"Haaaaahhh!" She gasped for air as the rising water level pushed her down again, juggling her around. But as more and more water filled the room, the less strength the currents imposed on her, but still she was a doll tossed freely around, unable to make a difference between up and down.

Finally, just as the water was about to reach the ceiling, she managed to get a hold of herself enough to pop her head in order to take a final large gulp of air.

Good thing she did, as the moment there was no more room for the water to go to except through the comparably tiny hole, the remaining air created a bubble that imploded on itself in search of the exit. The expanding force tossed Cream Heart nearly to the bottom of the chamber, spinning her around until she managed to get a hold of herself.

Seeing her only route of escape, Cream Heart began to put all her effort and strength behind her strokes and paddling. But the strain was too much and the mounting effort finally stacked against her, making her movements slow, clumsy, and depleted the air left in her lungs at an alarming pace.

Still, she swam with everything she got until she reached the exit point, finally washing in the light of the sun as she swam frantically in search of the surface, but the tunnel leading up was long and had no apparent end in sight.

"Gllrrkk! Gmmbbggg!" She coughed, her cheeks inflating to avoid taking in water as the pain and burning sensation in her lungs increased. Bubbles of air escaped from her nostrils and the edges of her mouth in increasing intervals. She swam with all her might, her vision going blurry and her muscles cramping, slowing her down.

Finally, after who knows how long, her lungs finally collapsed and she released all the air left in her body, water filling her lungs as she desperately tried to breathe.

Desperation crept in and a burst of adrenaline flooded her system one last time. The pain and fear were useless, so she ignored them in favor of wanting to survive to see her beloved son again. Her muscles were strained, her voluptuous body was stiff and tired, and darkness was threatening to envelop her, drifting her into a peaceful slumber surrounded by the element she loved the most, water.

A rush of adrenalin woke her up and summoned the last of her strength in a dramatic last-minute second wind. Stroke after stroke, the light of the sun got clearer, blinding her slightly but pushing back the darkness setting on the corner of her eyes. But it wasn't enough. Her strength diminished and she felt numb all over, her legs coming to a halt.

With a final stroke of her arms, her head breached the water's surface and suddenly all senses returned to her.

"KHAAAKK! KHAAAKK! GRRAAAHHH!" She coughed the water in her lungs violently while reaching blindly towards any sort of surface. She didn't know when or what she grabbed, all she knew was that it was solid and that she could rest on it.

Lying comfortably on a hard surface, Cream Heart enjoyed the warmth of the sun wash over her body while water trailed at her sides. But, above all, even though she was breathing heavily and despite everything she had gone through, she was smiling.

"That... was... awesome!" She exclaimed, joyful. She closed her eyes, and everything faded to black.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Cream Heart groaned as she woke up. She was hardly a morning pony, but she felt incredibly relaxed and content for some odd reason. Opening her eyes, she found herself completely naked, her panties nowhere to be seen and the shirt she had been using hanging from the side of her bed.

Feeling something wet beneath her, memories rushed back into her mouth and she instinctively coughed, but nothing came out. She blinked, confused, until a few seconds later she came to realize that she had experienced a very vivid dream. With her vision returning in full, she discovered that her hand was stained with her juices along with her nether regions and her bedsheets.

Sitting up, she discovered a discarded controller on the ground and an active console. Her TV was on and showing Lara Stomp from the Dungeon Explorer series resting while a little menu on top of her asked 'Advance to Level 4? Yes - No'.

"Oh my...," Cream Heart giggled and stood up, feeling her legs slightly numb after masturbating like crazy whilst asleep and having one of the best dreams she'd experienced in quite a while. She walked out of her room and made her way to her son's room. Opening the door, she caught him playing some kind of base-building game. "Good morning, Button."

"Morning, Mom," he said without turning back. "Enjoyed the game yesterday?"

"Very much so, yes. Dungeon Explorer 2: Rise of Maretlantis is one of my favorite games," she explained as she came to sit on his bed. "Do you perhaps have similar games? Preferably with plenty of water levels?"

"A few," he paused the game and turned around only to find his naked mother, but he didn't react much aside from his penis hardening. "Want me to show you?"

"Mhmmm~," Cream Heart nodded. "But... why don't we take a shower first? I need it after last night."

"Yeah, no kidding. I can smell you from here," he nodded.

Tilting her head to see his computer screen better, her eyes widened. "Button, what game are you playing?"

"Oh, this one?" Standing up, he smiled. "It's called Subnautica. Pretty fun and heart-racing!"

"I see," she stood up and met her son in a loose hug, his hard shaft poking against her belly. "Why don't you tell me more about it?"

The End.