Reinvigorated to continue her journey through the dungeon, Jade trudges forward now with a large toad companion. The toad sits cradled in a scarf tied around Jades neck and seems pleased with this arrangement. The once guardian of the waters deemed it safe enough with the courser and admittedly Jade was a tad bit lonely. She found herself talking about various things with her small friend which made the journey less frightening. However she did wonder if she was going a tad bit mad as the toad most likely did not understand.

"Brep ReeeeHP" the toad replied or simply made a sound as Jade paused for a moment. Her eyes wandered around seeming to notice some signs of previous travelers. Hoof marks and signs of a camp lay scattered about with remains of perhaps some what recent. "Oh finally! Oh thank goodness we're getting somewhere!" she cheered reering on her back legs with excitement. The toad scrunched closer in the scarf so not to be jostled out of it's hold with all the excitement.

Jade calmed herself and shook her mane from her face as she began to eye over the camp to see what signs she could tell from the remains. How recent? How many? Who were they? All these questions flooded her mind until she paused noticing a burial of stone neatly stacked together in the corner. It seemed grim at first like perhaps it was a fallen companion until she noticed the corner of a chest peeping from beneath the stone.

She approached the pile of stone and tilted her head a bit flicking her ear curiously. Why would travelers leave this behind unless they intended to come back for it later? Perhaps it was treasure that was to heavy for them to carry at the moment so they would return later for it? Jade scuffed her hoof against the floor in thought before gently nudging the rocks aside watching them tumble away from the pile. Maybe they would not come back for this and it could be a treasure that she could bring herself to the surface. What else would this whole delve in the dungeon be for after all?

With a light nudge, she opened the chest and stepped back in awe. A crown lay gently upon deep purple satin glimmering in the dim light of the cavern. Jade's eyes widened with surprise that this of all things would be here and for the taking. Taking a moment to look around herself then around the chest for any obvious traps, she sniffed the crown. Something was not right about this, not one bit. Up until this point she had drank from mysterious waters, rode a massive millipede, and met pixies with a fair amount of luck. Yet something about this seemed off and ominous to her.

The crown lay lifelessly in the chest with such a strange beauty that she could not help wanting to inch closer to it. Her toad companion blinked a couple of times and gave a disgruntled croak. What would this all be for if she turned snout to this treasure? With that she took a deep breath and nudged the crown from its chest and upon her head where it sat perfectly. Waiting a moment for something to occur, Jade held her breath for a moment before sighing relieved.

"Don't want this falling off and losing it." she spoke to herself and turned her head towards her saddlebags to drop the crown inside. It was then she felt it's cold grip upon her head and a flash of light. Startled and rearing tossing her head she could not free herself from the crown. It's form began to melt over her forehead and down her cheeks into her fur until the crown was nothing more than a marking upon her coat.

"What! Wha-!?" Jade breathed and shook her head expecting to feel the crown but finding nothing there. She hurried to some abandoned scrap and tried to peer into the reflection to see what had occured. Seeing her coat adorned with an elegant crown marking upon her head she sighed with a light smile. "Cute, guess I'm the treasure now." she muttered. The large toad in her scarf scrunched and rubbed its face as if disapproving this statement.