Firekeeper

The group was very cautious moving forward. Inside the Farron Keep there was no telling what awaited them deep within. Loreane thankfully had some knowledge of the place thanks to Diana’s exploits long ago when she took on the Abyss Watchers here. Armed with this knowledge it was easy enough to pass through most of the keep without any real trouble, now as they approached the inner chambers that had the secret entrance to the catacombs beneath that’s where they knew the danger really was.

While the Abyss Watchers stood guard in the shadows the group moved forward unhindered to the chamber. Maud and Babs vocally wondered why they weren’t attacking, and Loreane surmised they saw Trixie as one of their own. Therefore they allowed them passage into the chambers of Farron Keep. As the group gathered in the center of the chamber there was a dimly lit bonfire that was on the verge of being snuffed out through centuries of neglect. Loreane gasped and hurried over to rekindle the bonfire offering it a healthy dose of fire that set its flame blazing with life once again. Trixie and the others gathered around the fire to rest and refresh themselves. Since none of them were undead this had immediate effect on them ,but it helped for them to rest after the long journey so far.

The group set up a temporary camp which was really just three tents hastily set up around the fire. All around them were the charred remains of armor fragments and weapons scattered about. Their bodies long turned to dust the group swept the mess back to give them a nice area to rest in. Unlike the swamp that smelled of rot and death the keep was moldy, wet, and dusty, but smelled far better than outside the keep did. This made it the ideal spot for a good rest.

Babs and Silver were already resting together in their tent after the long trek snoring away snuggled together in a sleeping bag. Maud stayed near her own tent resting close to the fire while Trixie and Loreane sat together by the fire. Loreane had Trixie laying on her lap gently stroking the unicorn's mane. Maud just watched not saying a word as she cleaned her armor and weapon while Trixie and Loreane relaxed.

After about ten minutes after setting up camp Maud finished cleaning her armor. Standing up she placed her weapon on her back and glanced at Trixie and Loreane who were looking at her.

“I’ll take first watch. You should get some sleep,” Maud said turning to walk around the camp.

Loreane yawned stretching her arms over head and Trixie looked up at her the woman's full bust in full view from her lower vantage point. She blushed looking away as Loreane patted her side signaling to her she wished to get up. Trixie rolled off the humans lap and got to her hooves. Standing she followed Loreane into their tent, as Maud watched from afar.

Inside the tent Loreane kneeled down rolling out the sleeping bags so her and Trixie could lay down in relative comfort. The jagged uneven stone floors made it difficult to get comfy even with the sleeping bags, but they managed by finding a soft patch of earth to lay their tent over. Once their beds were set Trixie disrobed from her armor setting it right outside the tent and watched from the corner of her eye as Loreane disrobed as well. While they were both female Trixie felt very naughty watching Loreane removed her top.

Unbuttoning her top Loreane slipped her top down her body letting the thick fabric fall around her feet. There standing before Trixie was easily the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Loreane’s almost bare body was now in full view, from her luscious golden hair, her soft pale skin, and her perfectly mildly curved body was now curved in an almost S shape as she gathered her clothing and set it aside, not bothering to fold them. Trixie watched as Loreane slid under the cover of the sleeping bag and wrapped it around her chest leaving her arms hanging out and resting against a soft rolled cloth for a pillow.

She sighed contentedly as she closed her heavy bagged eyes shifting her weight to get slightly more comfortable. A few seconds later Loreane was gently snoring while Trixie sat beside her on her own sleeping bag. The unicorn ran her hoof across Loreane’s golden hair, a smile curled on Loreane’s lips and she said something in her sleep that Trixie couldn’t make it out. Trixie felt a strong urge to grow inside her. Something primal that was driving her mad. All she could think about was Loreane and how close she wanted to be to her; however with danger around every corner Trixie used every ounce of willpower to not slip into Loreane’s sleeping bag.

In the end Trixie gave in and using her magic she unzipped part of the sleeg bag and slipped silently in nestling against Loreane’s breasts. Resting her chin on her shoulder Trixie closed her eyes as Loreane opened hers, just in time to see Trixie smile as she fell asleep. Loreane sighed and shook her head, but managed to crack a smile despite Trixie’s cuddling antics. She pressed her nose rubbing against Trixie’s cheek making her tiny pony purr like a kitten. Then as gentle as the wind she gave her a kiss on the lips. Trixie in her half sleepy state kissed back once, then Loreane returned with a quick peck of her own, finally ending the lip lock showdown.

Loreane wrapped her arms around Trixie pressing her large breasts against the soft fur of her pony. Trixie forced her tongue against Loreane’s and they fiercely fought for dominance, although Loreane purposely let Trixie take the lead. After Trixie’s conquest she broke away giving Loreane a chance to catch her breath while Trixie admired her up close. Trixie’s scooted back giving herself a full front view of Loreane’s body, her eyes scanning down Loreane’s naked body stopping at her supple breasts. Loreane noticed Trixie stare and with a playful gasp used one arm to cover herself, and at the same time tease Trixie with a scratch behind the ear making the mare kick.

“That’s a cruel trick you pulled there, Loreane,” Trixie purred in her humans arms. “Giving Trixie her victory and then this.”

The unicorn drove her wet nose into Loreane’s chest, nestling her nose between her breasts and rubbing. Loreane gasped at the wet sensation in her chest using both hands to grip behind Trixie’s ears and hold her in place. She even went so far as to smother Trixie with her chest giving the mare “special” treatment.
Trixie sighed feeling Loreane’s warmth as they snuggled together under the cover. They could barely hear the sound of Maud’s armor clanking around them as she kept watch. Their love for one another burned with great passion in their hearts, though inappropriate for the time, they did embrace one another content to withhold their burning desires until the time was right.

“Trixie loves you, Loreane,” The mare said, kissing Loreane once more.

Loreane smiled after the brief kiss petting the mares mane and resting her chin next to her spiraling horn. “I love you too, Trixie.”

In this moment an unspoken pact was made between them, and one that would lead them into a new step in life, should they survive the trials to come. And so together they rested until later in the morning when Maud would be replaced by Babs and Silver, then some time after Trixie and Loreane for the watch.

After the resting cycle was complete the group gathered their belongings and prepared for the catacombs beneath them.

“What, lies beneath?” Maud asked as they gathered their gear for the journey.

Loreane, now back in her robes and now donning a large breast plate and arm guards took a moment to gather her thoughts. She recalled what Lady Diana said about the catacombs. After passing through once before she would often return to gather information about the place and the Farron Keep. She was thankful she would pay attention and sometimes eavesdrop in on Diana’s conversations about her ventures.

“This place is called the Catacombs of Carthus, or the Carthus Seal, as Diana put it,” Loreane said, sheathing her sword on her side. “From what I heard over the years Diana believed this was a place of great power. She came here many times.”

Babs and Trixie took note of a sudden change in Loreane’s tone. She went from a soft factual tone to something of a more sinister darker tone. It was as if whatever she knew meant it was very dangerous and they both knew Loreane well enough to know that meant trouble. Silver Spoon looked worried about going into the catacombs visibly shaking as she packed her things.

Babs smiled and walked over to the shivering pony and wrapped a limb around her neck to comfort her. Silver’s posture relaxed immediately after the touch and giving Babs a weak smile.

“Don’t worry, Silv, it’ll be alright! I’ll keep the monsters off ya!” Babs said with great pride.

Silver giggled taking her bags and strapping them to herself as Babs helped hold them in place.

“I’m not worried about the monsters Babs, I’m worried about the dust and mold getting on my pretty outfit,” Silver admitted nonchalantly.

Babs lost her grin and bravado instantly. As her mind tried to play catch up she gave the grey filly a flat stare that said, ‘I can’t believe you are worried about THAT’ on it. Silver glanced back at Babs who stepped away with an irate look, but not before Silver leaned up and kissed her freckled cheek. Babs blushed and tried mouthing something to the filly but only managed to wordlessly move her mouth as Silver giggled and ran away to hide behind Maud. Babs gasped as Silver stuck her tongue out playfully at the bronze filly prompting Babs to chase her around while the adults spoke.

Trixie was about to say something to the two fillies, but Loreane held her hand up stopping her from saying a word. She could tell Trixie was going to scold them. She told Trixie to let them have their fun, they were in for a rough walk ahead. They needed some down time to relax and unwind less they give in to stress, and that could have deadly consequences.

Trixie yielded to this logic and instead focused on what was to come.

“So, what can we expect down there?” Maud asked.

“From what I remember there used to be hundreds of undead down there,” Loreane said scratching her chin.

Silver gasped at the sound of that. “U-u-undead? As in zombie ponies, and skeletons, and ghosts?”

Loreane thought for another moment before answering, “Yes to the first two, but no to ghosts.”

Silver Spoon sighed with great relief. The thought of having to fight a ghost scared her. Now she could rest easy knowing that she didn’t have to. However Babs seemed unimpressed.

“Ghost? Bah! They don’t exist!” She claimed.

“Actually they do,” Maud said flatly.

Everyone except Loreane gasped staring in disbelief at Maud. Everyone started for a few seconds before everyone shifted their gaze at Loreane who nodded in confirmation at this.

“They do exist, albeit in very dark and evil places. We should not encounter any here,” She said with a hint of confidence. “However, there are creatures here like the Ghru. Large mighty beasts with no names, and powerful magic wielding demons. We would do well to stay close and swiftly make our way through the catacombs before things get too out of hand.”

“This place once held many undead horrors, but with the last Age of Darkness there’s no telling what we might find down there,” Loreane said.

Everyone nodded at Loreane. The human woman started down a large stone staircase that was built near a shrine to a great wolf warrior who fought her eons ago. His name lost with time, as with the very keep they walked, Trixie and the others wondered what he and the Abyss Watchers fought here. The catacombs were hidden under a secret passage that was left wide open after Lady Diana conquered the keep long ago.

Loreane held up a hand lighting a fire in her hand that illuminated their path as she descended. Trixie went second with Silver Spoon between Babs and Maud tailing the back. Darkness fell over them as they descended, from behind they sounds of scraping stone echoed through the passage sealed behind them. They stopped in their tracks, the last of the heavy footsteps echoed around them down to the bleak oblivion below. Trixie illuminated her horn and took the lead drawing her greatsword with her magic.

“Guess we have no choice. We press forward,” Trixie said walking down the stone steps to the catacombs.

As the group traveled down into darkness Trixie held her sword straight outward facing down the steps as a line of defense incase something attacked from the darkness. They walked for several minutes in silence wondering what would be at the end of the steps. Would they be met with nothing? Some unspeakable horror? The time came sooner than they thought as things started to heat up around them.

As they approached the end of the stairs, they entered a large chamber carved right out of the very ground they walked on. The chamber was a massive square space that could easily fit Canterlot Castle inside it, with walk paths hugging the walls around it except the opposite wall. The ledges had large stone pillars that were clearly old and falling apart, but a few still looked sturdy. The center of the room was a vast pit that went to the ceiling and down so far that it was pitch black. On the left side much of the structure was collapsed leaving only a ragged old stone bridge left heading across the pit towards an opening across. Down below was an adjoining section that had another stairway that went further down.

The group gathered around the ledge of the pit and looked down at the stairway below. Trixie quickly looked at Maud, and without a word Maud reached in her pack and pulled out a length of rope.

“I got it,” Maud said, tying the rope to one of the stable pillars.

Maud then threw the rope over the ledge, testing the strength of the knot before putting her weight against it. Once she was sure it was secure Maud scaled down first to check if the coast was clear. Her hooves held tightly to the rope as she descended down making sure to keep her eyes open for anything odd. Aside from piles of skeletons there was nothing around that caught her attention. That is until her shoulder armor was struck by an old arrow. The arrow lodged itself into the armor and Maud stared at it then looked down to see a skeleton had risen from the pile making itself whole again. With a quiver and bow in its skeletal hand it drew another arrow shooting up at Maud but instead hitting her rope severing it.

Maud wordlessly fell to the stairs hitting the stone steps with a loud dull thud. This impact left an imprint of Maud in it, and she lay there limbs spread out staring blankly up at her friends as they looked over calling for her.

“Maud! Are you okay!?” Loreane asked looking down.

Another arrow shot up hitting the stone pillar next to Loreane who took cover behind it as Trixie raised a magical barrier to protect them. Arrows ricocheted off the barrier uselessly as the group gathered to plan their next move, all the while keeping an eye on Maud who was still staring blankly at the ceiling.

“So, what do we do now?” Babs asked.

Trixie looked past her barrier down at Maud who still wasn’t moving, but clearly had her eyes wide open and unblinking.

“I think Maud passed out,” Trixie said looking back at the group.

They all looked down to see Maud in the same state as before, then they all looked at Trixie with disbelieving looks. Trixie sighed tilting her helmet down.

“She sleeps with her eyes open,” Trixie said.

The group nodded simply accepting the explanation. After all they had more pressing matters to attend to. They had to get down to Muad and help her before something else happened. Then as if the heavens themselves heard their thoughts a loud crashing sound came from below the ledge. The group looked down just in time to see the largest ball of bones steamroll over Maud rolling up the stair path below to the top and then back down again. After running Muad over twice the flat faced mare lout out the softest and dull, “ow”.

“Quickly! We must get to her!” Loreane said running towards the stone bridge.

“Ow.”

Loreane made her way across the bridge with haste unaware of an invisible creature standing there as she passed. The rest of the group halted when a clothed skeletal swordsman appeared before their eyes wielding a large curved sword and wearing tattered clothing. It raised its sword and struck down at Trixie forcing her to raise her sword to parry the attack. With her dagger she jabbed at the skeleton but only served to lodge her weapon in its exposed rib cage. Babs however managed to leap over Trixie and brought her hammer down on the foe smashing him easily under the weight and the might of her weapon and earth pony strength.

Loreane stopped hearing the snapping of bones behind her. She turned to see Babs with her weapon smashed over a pile of bones as Silver and Trixie caught up with said bronze filly not far behind.

“Sorry, I didn’t see him there when I passed by! Are you girls alright?” The human woman asked with concern.

Babs scoffed grinning and rubbed her nose with one hoof. “Dat was nothin! He was lucky I went so easy on him!”

Silver gave Babs a flat stare and nudged her side. Babs went wide eyed and glared back at her friend. “What was that?” She yelped at Silver Spoon.

“Careful there Babs, your inner arrogance was showing again,” She said with a hint of venom in her voice.

“Huh?”

Bab tilted her head unsure why her friend was so mad. Silver seemed to wait for a moment more before turning her nose up and walking briskly past Babs, pulling Trixie along.

“We need to hurry Trixie! Maud might be hurt,” Silver said urging the mare on.

Now thoroughly confused Babs scratched her head and watched as Trixie was dragged along by the filly across the bridge. This left Babs and Loreane left to cross. They hurried after the two but Loreane tugged Babs by her armors collar slowing her down. Babs took the hint and slowed her pace slightly giving them some privacy, but still managing to keep close to the other two ponies.

“I know you didn’t mean too, but I think SIlver Spoon got jealous when you said that comment to me,” Loreane said patting Babs on the head. “Just try to compliment her next time she does something and you should be fine.”

Babs nodded smiling as they hurried to catch up with their friends. They ran into the next chamber which was an upper section to a stairway that went down to another lever below and then down a long hall with pillars to a door. The group gathered together as another ear splitting shatter sound came from nearby. They hurried down the hall, shattered remains of skeletons remain lifeless beneath their feet and hooves as they ran by. To their surprise nothing happened as they ran on meeting no opposition along the way. At first Loreane took notice and thought nothing of it but good fortune smiling upon them.

Then they ran through an antechamber into another adjoining area identical to where they just were. Only this time there were clear signs of a battle that occurred recently here. There were four dead Abyss Watchers on the ground, their blood still fresh on the stone ground. Their weapons were scattered about and pile of broken skeletons lay around them as if they were encircled and trapped. Though the Abyss Watchers clearly lost this fight they dispatched at least thirty skeletons before falling themselves in this fight. Outnumbered but not outgunned as the saying went. They cautiously made their way through the chamber and found the path way they sought leading to the stairway that Maud fell onto.

Hurrying the group made their way to the stone steps expecting to see the horrid amalgamation of bones rolling up at them as they did. To their surprise and Loreanes despair it wasn’t the skeletons they say waiting for them at the stairs. Instead it was a human, tall and well built wearing Abyss Watcher armor, minus the helmet, and frost color armor leggings in place of the Abyss Watchers standard leg wear. A large shield covered the warriors back, with her sword on her back and her farron dagger on her hip, and under her steel armored foot was Maud being pressed down on the chest. Her long jet black hair flowed behind her as she drew her sword pointing the tip down at Maud’s throat and held it there as she glanced up, smiling at the group.

“Hello again, Loreane,” She said to her fellow human.

The ponies weren’t sure but for a brief moment they all thought Loreane snarled as she clenched her first glaring hatefully at the human. When she spoke she spoke with enough venom in her voice that she could have poisoned a dragon had her words had any substance to them.

“Hello, Diana.”