Author's Note

Hey everyone!

How’s it going? Hope you’re all having a great day, I’m having a great day. (When I posted this anyways!)
I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I know I have a bad habit of updating then I won’t update for months at a time. It’s just work has me going non-stop since three major holidays are around the corner for me. I write I just don’’t have time to write a lot. Plus I procrastinate like crazy! And now the new MLP Movie sparked a new story idea in my head but I have to fight the urge to post it! Then again I want to post a Tempest Shadow story too, but I promised I wouldn’t until I finished a few stories.

To be honest that only consists of three stories now, Firekeeper, Wonderbolt my Heart: After Story, and Legend of the Sirens. Everything else is done for now. So I might post the new story anyways and just continue on as I did, or maybe not. What do you all think? Am I posting enough that you guys don't mind me posting another story, or do you want me to focus on what I got?

I need a kick in the butt I think.

Swamp Tower and Canon Ball!

Unicorn magic is a powerful thing.

If there was one thing Loreane has learned from her time with ponies and researching them and their origins it's that they most likely evolved from a breed of horses or ponies from long ago that were alive during the Age of Darkness. Why, you may ask. The answer came to her from from Twilight and Trixie.

After hearing about some mishaps between the two of them Loreane discovered that most ponies, especially unicorns had a certain natural affinity for dark magic. After observing this magic it was easy enough to determine that it was in fact dark magic without a doubt. How ponies came to have it is a mystery to Loreane and why they reject it so harshly.

Now with this thing about unicorn magic “calling” a pony was just adding to the mystery of how magic in this world worked. It often left Loreane feeling, disjointed. Pyromancy was simple enough to understand. It was a combination of knowledge and one's passion. Pyromancy was a passionate source and a powerful one at that. Often said to be the most powerful of all the arcane arts, but even pyromancy had its rules and they could not be broken. Magic from the ponies was all over the place. It was organic and ever changing.

Where there were rules and laws of magic, many were broken. It was unusual.

Walking beside Trixie always felt right though. Despite her views on Equestrian magic Loreane felt at peace with the world with Trixie. That is of course if Maud wasn’t here. The three of them walked out of Quelaag’s lair back to the deepest parts of the Great Swamp. The smell of the sludge and poisoned waters was as intoxicating as ever, and not in the good way.

The three trudged along the banks of the poison infested waters. They kept a small distance from the water's edge keeping their eyes and ears open for any sounds of danger. Of course the swamp was full of danger. From the poisonous waters to man sized mosquitoes, basilisk gekkos, among other things, the swamp was infested with danger at every step.

As they walked along the bank the sounds of insect wings buzzing drew the group's attention across the infested waters. Across maybe ten meters was a series of torches that went deeper into the swamp surrounded by man sized mosquito. Nearby were several large leeches in the shallow banks inching towards the trio as they walked along ignoring them.

“We need to be careful, “ Loreane warned. “One misstep could be disastrous.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep Trixie safe. You can focus on protecting yourself,” Maud replied.

Loreane glared at the armored earth pony. She wasn’t sure if that comment was meant to be sarcastic, mean, or genuine. Maud’s dull monotone speech made it impossible for Loreane to tell. Trixie however swished her tail in a irate manner looking over her shoulder at Maud.

“Now, Maudie, be nice. Loreane and I are close friends. Don’t go getting all riled up,” The unicorn warned.

“Okay. . .”

Getting back on track Trixie felt her magic tug at her horn beckoning her to cross the waters. It called her like an echo of a voice guiding her towards her destiny. Trixie stopped and turned to face the area across the water where the mosquitoes were hovering. Some were one the nearby trees, waiting to ambush their next victim. Maud and Loreane watched as Trixie closed her eyes and focused on her magic. She created a light pink stand of magic that acted like a compass pointing directly at the torch lit path across the way.

Seeing this Lorenae reached into her side pouch and pulled out a handful of dried purple moss that was covered in white flowers. She took a bit of it and gave it to Trixie by placing it in her cape.

“This is blooming moss. It’ll cure any poison and toxic ailments you gather from the swamp. It’ll also protect you from being afflicted by such things for a time as well.”

Trixie smiled accepting the blooming moss. “Thanks Loreane, Trixie will put it to good use.”

Loreane nodded and looked at Maud who was watching. Her eyes flat as ever showing no emotion what so ever. At least as far as Loreane was concerned. It bothered her greatly that this pony had a face as dull and plain as she could given the circumstances. Shaking the thought from her head Loreane offered Maud some of the blooming moss. Maud blinked slowly and looked at the moss, giving it a quick sniff before taking.

“Thank you,” she said placing it under her chest plate.

“Don’t mention it,” Loreane said bitterly. “So, where to next Trixie?”

Trixie’s reply was to take a step forward and into the poisonous swamp water. She sounds of her hooves sinking into the muddy ground released gas bubbled and bubbled over one another. Loreane and Maud exchanged glances before following Trixie and her magical horn compass into the swamp. Immediately Loreane regretted it. The water was like a mixture of beach sand a tar. Once your foot went in it was difficult to move and pull it out to take a measly step forward.

They trudged along inch by inch. While Loreane and Trixie had little trouble with it Maud and her armor are sinking faster than they were. With each step Maud’s strength weakened and she was out of breath before they made it even half way across. That was when things went bad.

From the water something long and slimy shot out and latched itself to Maud’s neck. The sounds of the water breach caught Loreane and Trixie’s attention enticing them to turn and see. What they saw was a massive leech that had latched onto Maud’s neck and was trying to penetrate her armor. Maud was calm as Loreane and Trixie rushed to help her, albeit slowly due to the swamp water. Suddenly more and more leeches attached to Maud engulfing her completely from view with their large slimy bodied, and trying to suck the blood from within her body in a massive feasting orgy.

However despite their efforts Maud remained unfazed. She simply rammed her body into a nearby tree crushing many of the leeches to death. The dead leeches fell off her freeing her arms. Now freed she took hold of her club and spoke in a whisper. Her body glowed for just a second as her body began to grow large boils all over. The boils grew and grew until they covered her entire body. Then with her club she began to smash it against her body crushing the rest of the leeches with a few powerful strikes that shook the air around her. Even Loreane and Trixie felt the disturbance as they watched.

The last of the leeches fell off and Maud’s body slowly returned to normal, but she had a small curl in her lip. Maud had a Maud style look of triumph and sh proudly slung the club over her back once again.

“Impressive as always, Maud,” Trixie said with a smile.

“I try…”

Trixie gave a simple nod and turned back to the path towards the torches. As the trudged closer the mosquitoes took notice of them. Several gathered together flying towards them. The buzzing of their wings sounded menacing to Trixie who got ready to cast her fireball at the upcoming bugs. Loreane however took the stand this time.

Gathering up the power of her own mana Loreane’s hands glowed brightly illuminating the immediate area around them group. Kneeling down Lorenae’s hands skimmed the surface of the water before several pillars of fire erupted around her. The blazing fire burned the mosquitoes to dust; however, a few of them survived by scattering about them. One of the larger mosquitoes flew higher above them while the other few remaining began to attack.

The first one charged at Trixie. Trixie easily side stepped to avoid the attack and vaporized the bug with a powerful spell from her horn. The next two went after Loreane attacking her from the front and back. In the blink of the eye the mosquitoes were sliced apart by a rapid spinning fire whip and then incinerated by a massive series of rapid fireballs and a great combustion spell.

The area went quiet afterwards. The only sounds were the water and the wart frogs nearby. Loreane placed her hands on her hips and flicked her hair to the side. She gave Trixie a cocky grin which made Trixie blush and giggle.

“That was hot,” Trixie said in a seductive tone.

Hearing the underlying tone Loreane glanced at Maud and gave the mare a shiteatting grin. There was a small barely noticeable response from Maud. A slight twitch in her left ear and eyebrow. It made Loreane feel accomplished. Petty yes, but she was willing to take what she could get when it came to winning Trixie over. Putting that aside the group continued to follow Trixie’s magic deeper into the swamp which eventually led them to the torch lit path.

Now clear they followed a raised up wooden platform ramp that ran through the swamp. The wood platform was old and ragged. The swamp water had rotted many of the struts and were now covered in black sludge and spots of mold. The torches barely lit the path among the darkness as the trees towered over them. Off in the distance there stood a large derelict tower. It was made of wood and was composed of several decks and buildings that were built atop of one another. The lower part of the tower had a massive waterwheel that connected with several other wood wheels like a makeshift gears. Each sent another gear cranking along a complex mechanism that spanned to the top of the shanty built tower. Several mosquitoes were all over the upper decks while hollowed undead lurked around the decks on patrol. Trixie’s magic tugged at her horn forcing her, Lorenae, and Maud to look up.

Trixie and Loreane sighed and Maud simply shrugged saying, “Never a dull moment right, little moon?”

“Trixie agrees with you Maud. There’s never a dull moment.”

“So, we are going up?” Loreane asked pointing up with a petite finger.

Trixie nodded. Sighing Loreane unclasped her cloak and rolled it up nicely to place it in her knapsack. Once safely stowed away the three gathered under a ladder and began to climb. Trixie’ horn tugged at her stronger as they began to ascend. They were close.

Trixie was the first up the wooden ladder followed by Loreane and then Maud at the rear. The initial climb was easy. When they reached the top a single hallowed guard was at the opposite end looking over the swamp and seems unaware of their presence.

Trixie was ready to blast him with a powerful fireball but Maud and Loreane held her back shaking their heads. Trixie pouted. Loreane took a more subtle approach and drew her longsword and suck behind the hollowed soldier. He shifted and looked in another direction which made Loreane stop in her tracks and waited to see what he’d do. When she realized he was still unaware of her she crept closer taking care not to step lightly so the wood would creak unnecessarily loud. When she positioned herself behind him she stood up and with one swift motion she back stabbed the hollowed soldier in the back killing him instantly. The body of the hollowed slumped and she pushed him over the edge sending him into the swamp below.

Proud of her kill Loreane sheathed her sword and smiled back at the ponies. Maud nodded and Trixie continued to pout as the human lightly skipped past and patted Trixie on the head.

“Hmph, Trixie could have done that,” Trixie said sulking.

“We know, little moon. We know,” Maud reassured her.

Both mares followed Loreane around the water wheel following the platforms that made a U shape to the other side. Near the end of the last bend in the platform was a small shack with a broken down door. Loreane crouched and crept along the edge of the platform with the others towards the shack. It was a small single room shack with a table two dead hollowed soldiers. There was a table nearby with a scroll on it and a small chest next to it.

Trixie inspected the bodies and found a relatively unused buckler shield and equipped it. Maud inspected the chest and found a rare find. Inside were several titanite scales, shards, and a small scroll with a seal made from crystals. The scroll on the table was old possible ancient wit how stained a brittle it was. It was legible and it was definitely a map of the area of the swamp. It was an area Loreane knew of. Yes, they were in Blighttown, but they were at the south end where the Great Swamp meet with the territory of the Farron Keep. Lorenae glanced at Trixie whose magic had intensified and was pulling her southward. If her guess was correct the magic was pulling them into the Farron Keep, but to what end? All that was there was the Abyss Watcher Fort and swamp waters surrounded by a near impenetrable wall over a wide area. What could be drawing her there? Was it the call of the abyss? Could the old wolf of Farron be calling her? Perhaps it was something else?

“Look what I found.”

Loreane snapped out of her thoughts when Maud held up the scroll she found and offered it. Loreane took the scroll and looked it over. The crystal seal was well made and powered by magic like most crystal items she’d come across. This one however was very similar to the crystal magic of the Abyss Watchers. Breaking the seal Loreane opened the scroll and read it. It was a series of stories that told of Diana and her rule over the Abyss Watchers in the Age of Darkness. Loreane frowned at the mention of Diana, but she continued to read on.

“It was during the age of Darkness when our mistress, Lady Diana of Lothric came to our lord's aid. We held at the gates of Farron Keep, but the dredges of humanity had spewed from the darkness and were overwhelming us.

“Wolf Lord Farron was strong, but even he succumbed to fatigue after the nonstop fighting. When we lost the first settlement we retreated on his order to the Center of the three pillars. I sent a scout to light the fires that would seal the gate to the inner keep where the majority of our forces would reside with the nearby civilian population. We held for another three hours before were were forced to abandon the pillars and go to the gate. We were lucky enough to not have the fires extinguished, less the dredges break through. When the dredges reached the gate we met even more resistance. Dredge Giants. We fought them off for as long as we could but Lord Farron fell. It was when he howled signalling us to fight to the last breath when she appeared. Our savior, Lady Diana-”

The scroll abruptly ended, but just bellow the last line of text was a crystal spell. At least a variation of one. Loreane recognized it as the Religion's signature spells the Farron Dart. Although it was vastly changed. Inspecting it Lorenae placed her hand over the spell's text and absorbed a bit of its power. Her hand glowed brightly as the text glowed bright blue and the area became flooded with the blue light. The light blinded Trixie and Maud who shield themselves from the light. After ten second the light vanished and Loreane was left standing with the scroll clutched in her hand.

"W-what was that?” Trixie stuttered.

Loreane nodded inspecting her hand. “I Learned a powerful sorcery I think.”

Maud walked next to the woman sniffing the hand that once glowed with the light.

“Any idea what it does?” Maud asked.

“No, I just know how to use it now. It’s strange. I can feel the knowledge inside me, but I don’t know what the spell does. It’s so strange. Usually one has to learn how to use spells. I think this is a special spell.”

“Hmm. Well, if comes down to it we can always try it?” Trixie suggested. “After all, what good is a spell if we use it at the wrong time?”

Loreane shrugged. “I guess? For now we should leave. There’s no way nothing saw that light.”

The two smaller ponies nodded in agreement. The three left without question and not a moment too soon. As soon as they left the protection of the shack the were swarmed by a swarm of mosquitoes that flew all around them. The swarm had well over twenty giant bugs and Trixie and Maud used their shields to protect themselves from the massive stinger noses of the mosquitoes. All the while Loreane lead the way to the ladder where she allowed Maud and Trixie to climb first.

The two ponies kept their shield on but made their climb clumsy and slow, but they were able to protect themselves from the attack. This however made their climb nigh impossible. Loreane’s hands whipped out two fire whips and followed up with a complex series of swings that resembled a dance. The fire whips danced around Loreane as the bugs were cut down one by one as they dared to get closer. However the attacks were wide and left her exposed many times, and one bug got a luck blow. A lone mosquito dived at Loreane from above and managed to get through the initial strikes from the fire whips. Its dive drove its nose straight through Loreane’s gut like a javelin skewering her as the fire whip sliced the head off the mosquitoes body. Burning pain ran through Loreane as she clutched her now bleeding gut, as as she gasped falling to her knees.

She whimpered feeling weak, and felt foolish for leaving herself exposed. Her stomach was now a deep red color ruining the fine garments Rarity made for her. She heard Trixie call out to her and both the ponies dropped from the ladder to fend off the swarm. Maud used her club to smash several more bugs to death, while Trixie cast her shield spell around Loreane and fought with her fireball spells and buckler shield. Then things got worse.

“Trixie look!”

Maud pointed to a larger mosquito that was having a sort of spaz attack, when it spawned ten more mosquitoes. The another mosquito did the same thing, and soon they were surrounded by enough bugs that hey would never survive.

Trixie and Maud’s ear fell against their heads as they readied to fight to the last breath.

“This really sucks,” Trixie said. “If Trixie wanted to go out, she would have preferred to go out fighting an epic monster or something.”

“Like an ursa major?”

Trixie glared back at Maud who was smiling. Trixie’s scowled falter as she herself cracked a smile herself.

“Bad joke, Maud. But, yeah… Something like that.”

Loreane gasped and hacked as blood poured out from her wound. She was in tears and could barely see. She weakly reached for Trixie and placed her bloodied hand on the mares cheek caressing it. Even with the blood messing up her pristine fur, Trixie allowed the etouch to happen. The unicorn held Loreane’s hand with her hooves and gently kissed it.

Maud frowned but stood ready to fight. Her shield and club poised and ready to strike. She held the shield slightly over Loreane offering some amount of protection should things get really bad. The swarm suddenly charged them and the clash began in full force. Maud swung her shield in a wide arc striking a whole wave of Mosquitoes back and followed with a swing of her club and spun full circle around. Trixie ducked as if rehearsed as the club skimmed her head and killed several bugs. Trixie used the opening to shoot her shield spell outwards force in the bugs to scatter.

The bugs recovered quickly and swarmed on them again, but the two larger ones spawned more mosquito spawns making their numbers even greater than before. Maud and Trixie felt their time was up. As the swarm charged again there was a loud whistling sound followed by a loud cheer.

“CANONBAAAAAAALLLL!!!”

From up in the sky the two ponies managed to see as small ball hurtling towards them. The ball was spinning and as it got closer it sprawled open in a blur of steel and bronze and glowed bright white and gold. This effect combined with the spinning made it look like a large saw of light. The light yelled, ‘Woohoo!’ as it came crashing down next to Loreane, and between Trixie and Maud. When it collided with the platform the entire structure violently shook as radiant light shot out in every direction. The powerful light smashed against the mosquitoes filling the air with sickening snaps and crunching sounds as their bodies were shattered and broken. With the bugs vanquished the two ponies looked at their savior.

A combination of armor and bronze with a red mane stood up proudly throwing a custom Carim Warhammer and chime mix over her shoulder in a triumphant pose and cocky grin.

“Baabs! You saved us!” Trixie cheered hugging the filly.

“Heh, yea, we was lookin for you guys. Sorry it took so long.”

Trixie pulled the filly back and stared at her.

“We?”

A loud exaggerated gasp caught Trixie attention. Over near the ladder where they first climbed up Silver Spoon was panting and gasping for her breath as she dragged herself over the ladder to the platform and dragged her hooves over to the group. The filly in her maiden outfit was now muddy and dirty with leaves, guts, and twigs all over her. Silver Spoon gave a death glare at Babs and shuffled past her and began to heal Loreane.

“You owe me a big one for this Babs Seed!” Silver complained.

“Ah, you did fine! So, you got a little muddy, but we saved everyone!” Babs said cheerfully.

Silver Spoon pulled the mosquito head out of loreane slowly and rolled her eyes at Babs comment. She chanted and used her greater heal miracle to seal up the wound so she could focus on healing Loreane without killing her from blood loss.

“You would say that. I however to take great pride in my appearance! Look at me! I’m covered in mug, blood, and guts! My manes a mess and my hooficure is ruined! I hate this! I haven't showered in who knows how long! And I can’t stand the smell of this place!

Babs recoiled the tiny fillies outburst.

“Well, a’hm glad you’re here. None of us can heal like you can. We’d be lost without you,” Babs said trying to stroke Silvers ego.

Yes, a little ego stroking can go a long way. It seems to work too. Silver Spoon smiled proudly and continued to work with gripping too much. Once a few miracles were cast Loreane became aware of what was going on around her. She smiled and pet the grey filly on the head.

“Thank you Silver Spoon,” Loreane said weakly, with a cough. “I guess I got careless.”

“You did.”

Everyone glanced at Maud. The mare was busy cleaning her club and Trixie gave her a leer.

“Maud, don’t start that again.”

“Start what?” Maud asked in a softer tone.

“Ugh, nevermind.”

Trixie facehoof and held on to Loreane through the healing process. Her horn still tugging at her and growing strong by the minute. She didn’t have much time left, she had to keep moving. She turned to Babs who was watching Maud with a critical eye.

“Babs, come with me please. We need to keep moving,” Trixie said pointing to her horn.

“Right behind ya, Trix!”

Babs hopped past Maud to followed Trixie up the ladder. Maud stood up and prepared to follow, but Trixie held up her hoof to stop her.

“You wait here, Maud.”

“Why?” Maud asked.

“You can't leave these two alone. Silver Spoon is a good healer, but she's not a fighter. Lorenae will be weak from her wound for sometime and will need the help. You staying will help keep them alive,” Trixie explained.

“What about you? How can I protect you if I’m not with you?”

“That’s what Babs is for,” Trixie replied dryly. “Maud, just, please stay and watch them. Please?”

Maud glanced back at Silver Spoon and Loreane. The human was still lying down resting while Silver Spoon worked her miracles over her body. Glancing slightly down more she looked at the large pool of blood on the wood. Sighing, Maud relented, though she didn’t like it.

“I’ll stay with them.”

Trixie smiled. “Thanks Maud.”

Climbing up the ladder Trixie and Babs went to the next level. They Disappeared from view leaving the three alone. A moment later Trixie’s head popped over the side.

“Oh, Maud!”

Maud glanced up.

“What is it, little moon?”

“You better apologize to Loreane for your rude comment later!”

Maud frowned as Trixie disappeared from view. She went over and sat next to Silver and Loreane and watched them. Minutes passed until Silver Spoon finished her work. Lorena was grateful for her and showered the filly with positive words of comfort, and the promise of a nice hot shower once this was all over.

Maud glanced down at her chest and pulled out Boulder. She pet the little rock stroking his soft polished surface gently. Dark thoughts passed through her mind as she thought about Trixie kissing Loreane’s hand. Dark feelings of jealousy seeded in her heart. All she could think about was the kiss and how affectionately Trixie embraced the human. She couldn't help it. Trixie was the first pony she ever fell in love with and she didn’t know how to handle her feelings. Part of her hated Loreane, but another part of her, more rational side, told her it wasn’t the humans fault. It was Trixie for being indecisive. Regardless of who’s fault it was the seed of jealousy were planted and from there they would only grow and fester, and rational thought would only take her so far.

“What should I do Boulder?”